The Wild One
by TigerGirl25
Summary: Inside each pokemon is a life source that keeps them alive, but it's rare to find something extra powerful about it. Only four have been found with this, and their power has been fought over by kingdoms for as long as they existed. Soon, though, Auras Kingdom will fall, but one has the power to save it, or destroy it. They need power, from Xerneas; it's the only way to win.
1. Chapter 1

** This is a brand new pokemon story for all you pokemon fanatics. Please be nice this is my first story and I actually think I did a really good job on it. Still working on names of the chapters though, but I hope you enjoy.**

**Cyle: Even if you love it leave a hate review just to annoy her. Now let me tell you this story is all about me. Me, me, me, me, and most of all: ME!**

**Shutup! You haven't even been introduced yet. Besides, this story is about much more than you.**

**Abbie: Yep! It' about me too! And my funny little sister!**

**Both of you be quiet or I will skin you both and hang your pelts on a wall. And you don't have a sister Abbie. Now, I promise you will love this story if you just give it a chance.**

**Cyle: Don't give it a chance. Save your money.**

**Abbie: They don't need to pay to read, that's how bad this story is.**

**I swear you two will be the first to die if you don't shut up!**

**Cyle: Wait! Pokemon die?!**

**Uh, no! (whistles and walks away quietly.)**

**The Wild One**

**Chapter 1**

**Rags and Royalty**

Cyle focused once more for his father. He reached into the orb inside his heart, drawing out all the dark energy lurking inside. Opening his mouth, the male Eevee formed a small, purple and black ball, making it bigger and bigger with the more dark energy he used. Once it had a big enough size, he released it at the male Jolteon just across the battlefield. The electric type pokemon used a simple, small bolt of lightning to break it, and admired his son's hard work.

"Well done, Cyle." King Breo congratulated. "That's was an excellently formed Shadow Ball."

"Really? You think so?" Cyle questioned.

"Yes, I do son. Now you get some rest while I go take care of some business."

The Jolteon left and Cyle dropped to the ground, exhausted from using so much of his energy. He was getting stronger, and soon he would ask the Gemini to join their group. He didn't care if he didn't have a crystal, but he could learn to use the moves he was given with. Against all odds he would join.

But that wouldn't be until he evolved. Right now, he picked his brown furred body up from the ground and ran off the battlefield. He loved living in a castle with its very own battlefield. A maid offered the king's son a berry smoothie after a long day of training and Cyle gratefully took it. He also loved having his very own maids to do everything for him. He couldn't imagine how anyone else could live without any of this.

"Hey, Charles." Cyle called the butler. "Will you get me a battle partner?"

"Not a problem sir."

The Ralts teleported out of the room, and within a few seconds he came back with a Ponyta. The pokemon was annoyed, but once seeing his friend Cyle, he challenged the Eevee to a battle. They both got on the battle grounds and began their brawl.

Tony, the Ponyta, got the battle started with Tackle, and Cyle rolled out of the way, countering with his own Tackle. Tony saw it coming and released a shower of flames to his left, successfully hitting Cyle head on. The fire type jumping into a dash, tackling the normal type into the air, and Cyle became hopeless. Tony kicked up a storm of dust, bursting through the wall covered in flames. Flame Charge.

Cyle had a plan for this. He grabbed his tail and pulled on it just as the Ponyta jumped, and he barely made it out with a burning scratch. As he touched the ground he began to charge up his most powerful attack. He pulled the black energy out of the orb in his heart, charging the ghostly ball of energy in front of himself. Releasing the ball, he blew himself back a couple feet. Shadow Ball smacked the Ponyta right in the face, sending the fire type flying as well.

Tony gave up after just one hit, even though it barely hurt he pretended to lose so Cyle wouldn't get mad. Tony had to control his anger boiling inside as the Eevee pranced all around, bragging about his strength and how Tony though he would win. He went very far but Tony kept a cool head.

"This is the exact reason I'm going to be with the Gemini." Cyle bragged.

Tony had enough. He jumped forward and smacked into the male Eevee as hard as he could. Then the Ponyta stood over the normal type and shot and Ember attack as hard as he could, trying to burn the pokemon. The Ralts immediately teleported the fire type to a different part of the room and ran over to the prince, checking to see if he was okay.

"Prince Cyle, are you alright?" He asked.

Cyle coughed a few times before unsteadily getting on his feet. He wobbled and fell down, weak from getting hit by Ember. Cyle's fur was singed in patches on his pelt, a clear symbol that he had taken damage from the strong fire type attack. Still, the Eevee stood up and quickly focused a shadowed orb, releasing it at the fire type.

Tony laughed when a small flame was all he had to make to destroy Shadow Ball. The purple dust particles made Tony's cream fur sparkle, and he jumped around in it, making sure it would stay on his fur for a while. Cyle got very upset and tried to swipe at the fire type, but Charles held them both away from each other with Psychic.

"You're weak!" Tony yelled. "I can beat you without even using fire!"

"Then explain how I've been beating you all this time!" Cyle shot back.

"Enough!" Charles yelled, silencing both pokemon. "Both of you are acting like children!"

Charles sent Tony back home and Cyle to his room. Cyle was very angry and frustrated. He kept shooting Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at the glass window in his room, trying to break the fragile glass, but his attacks weren't strong enough. Cyle finally melted to the ground, falling asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

She snuck into the town square unnoticed, hiding behind a tent someone put up. Her head peaked out just a little bit, enough to see what was going on. The Azumarill shined off several apples, placing them all in the pyramid right on top of the wood counter. With any luck, she would be able to fill her stomach and not attract any attention to herself. The time came, the Azumarill turning around, picking up a couple more things but dropping them.

"Now's my chance." The young pokemon whispered to herself.

She darted from the shadows, quick as lightning. Skidding to a halt in front of the wooden counter filled with perfectly shined apples, the Eevee clamped her jaws onto the stem. She bolted the other way, running straight for the protection of the thick forest. Just as her paw touched a blade of grass under a shady oak-

"Thief! Thief!" someone yelled.

So close, yet so far. Abbie didn't stop running, though, she only tried going faster. She watched everything in her sight, dodging trees, dashing through bushes, and jumping over small creaks dented in the rock. The Eevee didn't get far, but she was closer, closer than last time. And that feeling skidded through the brown fur.

An explosion echoed through the air, and Abbie, suppressing all other thoughts than survive, released the apple from her clamped jaw. She smacked into the jagged white rock, skidding along the rough texture with her side. She whimpered in pain, but got back up, ignoring the stinging coming from her side. Abbie had to be tough, and try not to cry.

The red apple had flown into a bush, and toppled off landing on the flat, white colored rock. Seeing another chance, the Eevee darted toward it, but something blocked her path the second she stepped forward. An Umbreon, standing over her with high authority. He looked down at her and sighed, not surprised it was her who stole the fruit.

The rest of them walked up. A feisty, fired up, female Ninetails wearing a white band on her neck that strung two red diamonds, and one red circle at the front. Next, a male Lucario with the same band stretched around his wrist that held one blue circle. A Swellow wearing the band on his head with a white circle gem on it joined in the stare. Last, a Gallade with the pink circle gem stuck where the Swellow had it. They all looked down at the Eevee.

"Don't take things that aren't yours." Zen, the Umbreon, spat.

The Gallade picked up the apple, and all five of them walked away. Abbie, grimily sat down in defeat, sighing. She knew all five of them. Starting with the gems strung on each of the bands every one of them wore, except the Umbreon. Those gems had magical properties that let the pokemon manipulate moves that normally a pokemon of that type couldn't do. Unfortunately, that was the only thing Abbie knew about the mysterious minerals, besides the fact that the gems picked who had the power and courage to wear them. Everyone knew that.

Zen, the Umbreon, was sort of like the master. He taught them to control the power hiding in the gems. Zodia, the Ninetails, was basically the most skilled of the four. She knew battle combo moves that could take out any foe. Kila, the Gallade, was so powerful with her psychic attacks that she could stop time. Luca, the fighting and steel type Lucario, could create any kind of weapon out of his everlasting aura. Last, the Swellow named Swipe was fast with his attacks, and the powerful winds he whipped up could form a tornado even without the right conditions.

Abbie was orphaned as a baby, and she had stolen things her whole life to try and survive. Everyone in the poor village never trusted her, so she could never find a job or earn money to buy food. She was forced to steal. Everyone seemed to turn the plate over when a pokemon evolved, it's like the pokemon gets a clean slate. Abbie wanted more than anything else in the world to evolve, so that maybe everyone would see her differently.

That was impossible, though. The only way you could evolve in Auras Kingdom was to get approval from the king and Zen (which only happened once every year) and those famous pokemon also had to give you permission. Abbie knew she wasn't going to evolve, it was just a fact. Nothing sort of a miracle would get Abbie an evolution. The Eevee got up from her sitting position and dragged herself deeper into the forest. Perhaps mining for stones would turn out ok.

Upon getting home, which was a burrow in the ground, the Eevee glanced over at a bundle of flecks colored red, yellow, and blue. She's been collecting them for years, ever since she was abandoned in forest, and her searches would soon be over. The blue flecks all collected in a pile, was the Water Stone, only half completed. The pile of red flecks is the Fire Stone which was slightly more completed than the Water Stone. But the Thunderstone looked as if it was completely done. Abbie knew one or two more flecks would fully complete the evolution stone.

Abbie was very eager to find the last of the yellow flecks, because then she would evolve. She didn't care what she evolved into she just needed a second chance. She could redo her life and make it better. The Eevee carefully pushed the flecks over next to her bed of leaves, not mixing any of the colors. Luckily, she knew exactly where to find some of the yellow flecks.

She darted out of her burrow, jumping into the pond right by her temporary home. The water immediately soaked her straight to the skin, but she didn't care. Abbie released her claws and started pawing at the dirt quickly, pulling it behind her faster than a Diglet could ever do, even if it knew Dig.

It wasn't long before she found what she was looking for. It was a fraction of the stone bigger than fifty flecks. And just within her luck, it was yellow, the sign of the Thunderstone. Abbie sucked in fresh air just before she dunked her head into the crystal clear pond water. Sealing her jaw on the yellow rock, she scratched and yanked and pulled until the fragment was yanked out of the ground.

The Eevee grabbed the stone with her paws, gulping down fresh air. She was exhausted mostly because she was holding her breath, but also exhausted with happiness at finding the special stone. She gleefully splashed all around in the water, hugging the rock gratefully.

"I'm finally going to evolve!" she shouted.

Abbie became determined. She climbed out of the water, shaking the liquid off her fur. She grabbed a couple of leaves off a nearby tree, the biggest ones she could find, and carried them into the burrow along with the yellow fragment.  
She wetted the leaves with her tongue, laying them on a rock to dry and began working on the fire. She started by getting several pieces of red flecks and throwing them into the pit she made. Using her claw, she scratched one of the pieces very quickly and it sparked up a fire. Silently congratulating herself on completing such a hard trick, she checked the leaves, seeing they were dry and started gathering the yellow flecks all on the joined leaves. She tied the tips of the leaves together and hung it on a stick over the fire.

Once all the pieces got warm, the green oils inside would rise to the top and yellow oils on the outside would sink into the inside. After that, all of them would melt together and form into the evolution stone. It wasn't necessary for Abbie to do this, but she believed in waiting and evolving in the right way. She could just touch all the pieces at once and evolve but the stone was more traditional.

Just thinking about her evolution made her tingle. And a Jolteon, speed and electricity would be Abbie's greatest allies in battle. After waiting so long, even longer than a typical Eevee would, she would become more powerful. One day, she knew she would do great things, she just needed a little help.  
Abbie yawned, curling up into a ball. She fell asleep waiting for the stone to finish.


	2. Chapter 2

** Now that you've met both of the characters, it's time that you learn about the Gemini, four pokemon with the power of nature at their hands, or, you know what I mean.**

**Abbie: Wait, in the last chapter you said something about a new Gemini. Is it going to be me?**

**Cyle: Ha, in your little foxy dreams. It's going to be me and that's that. Now why don't you go crawl back to your burrow and cry.**

**Abbie: Listen boy. If you don't back off I'm going to teach you what it means to truly suffer.**

**Cyle: Oh, no. I'm sooooooo scaaared!**

**Abbie: Author, can you please tell this oversized rat that I'm going to be the new Gemini?**

**Actually, I'm going to let the readers decide once they actually know what the new Gemini is. You guys can PM me or leave a review saying who you think it should be.**

**Cyle: Pick me and I'll give you candy!**

**Abbie: That's not how you bribe an audience. PICK ME OR YOU DIE!**

**Okay, Cyle, bribing will probably work on the audience if they actually met you in person. So it's not going to work. Abbie, threatening to kill the audience will not work in getting any votes.**

**Abbie: How do you know? Maybe it will work.**

**Cyle: Yeah, who died and made you king of the book. I say we go and find every last person reading this and make them vote for me!**

**Abbie: Now hold your Rapidashes! Who said they were going to vote for you?**

**Cyle: Well who said they were going to vote for you? Huh? That's right, no one!**

**Who said that either of you were going to be the new Gemini? Wait, who even said there would be a new Gemini? I wasn't even planning on that, Cyle just butted in and said he was going to ask to be a Gemini.**

**Cyle: …**

**Abbie: …**

**That's right. Now be quiet while the viewers are reading this chapter.**

**Chapter 2**

**Future**

Zen paced back and forth trying to figure out what the prophecy was saying. He had gone over it about ten times, using his Psychic attack over and over again. Still, the vision didn't make sense to him.

Zen's students came him, seeing him pacing and with the Future Orb in front of him. Zodia saw her master upset and stepped forward, peering at the mystical orb swirled with purple mist. With the Umbreon pacing, it must've been another vision, it was either terribly bad or so hard to understand that Zen was worrying.

The orb was passed down from generation to generation, and every receiver could use their power to sense and see visions of the coming future. It was how the dark type knew which pokemon to train with the power of the Gemini Crystals. Each of the pieces came from the Orb of Life, sent from Arceus himself who sensed the kingdom was in danger so many years ago. The gems held mystical powers and chose who wielded and used their powers, the gems decided who was strong of pure purpose.

The Swellow joined Zodia. "Is something wrong, Master?" he asked.

"I have seen a vision." he said as if the four students weren't there. "It is not clear to me exactly what it means."

Kila stepped in, trying to help. "Perhaps we can help. We do, after all, have the gems. And I am a pure example of their powers."

Kila was an example. When she was a Kirlia, Zen found her and trained her with the pink gem. And since only a male Kirlia can evolve into a Gallade, she had to evolve into Gardevoir. But the gem somehow got her to evolve into Gallade, and she was very happy. She found her true power after that.

Zen relaxed for the first time all day. "I'm glad you want to help. I'll show you, but don't be disappointed if you cannot figure it out."

The Umbreon closed his eyes, drawing the energy from the orb inside him. Instead of using the darkness to form the move, he used the brightness and sent it to his mind. When Zen opened his eyes, his pupils were a bright pink color. He focused Psychic on the orb, making it release the swirling mist. The purple mist turned into a white fog as it surrounded the five pokemon. Zen stopped his move and watched the vision he knew by heart.

Four circles colored white, blue, pink, and red swirled in a slow circle before combining. A bright light flashed five times before showing an eight-pointed star. The first shape was a plus and the smaller, second shape was like an X placed over the plus sign. Each end was pointed. Slowly, the white star filled up with a snow like blue color. Then, another flash and a stripe of brown was shown, digging in the dirt. What seemed like a pokemon's head tilted and it stopped digging, only to pull up a yellow band with the same eight-pointed star strapped into it.

The vision ended and all the pokemon took a few seconds to process what they saw. It all puzzled them, and none could quite understand what the vision was trying to say. Of course it would be revealed later, it always was, but Zen needed to know now, so there wouldn't be any surprises. But the Umbreon hopefully turned to every, praying to Arceus that they knew what it meant.

"So," Luca started casually. "Anyone else confused?"

"Yeah," Zodia admitted.

"Maybe if we put all the pieces together, we'll figure it out." Kila proposed.

"Like, explain every part?" Swipe asked, getting several nods. "Okay, so what happened first?"

"Our gems!" Zodia declared right away. "All of them were spinning in a circle!"

"Yes! And they all joined together." Kila repeat in words what she saw.

"But before that there was a flash. Five flashes to be precise." Lucario stiffened at what he just said. The rest of them looked at him and got the same reaction he did.

"I guess we'll have to wait to find out." Zen sighed, not getting the same thought as his students.

"Five?" Swipe asked for confirmation. Luca slowly nodded. "Well it sounds like there's a fifth Gemini."

Zen, who had his back faced to Swipe, Zodia, Kila, and Luca, froze. The black fur on his back stood up in fear, and all his muscles tightened. He was shocked, not at how is students figured out the puzzle, but how there was a fifth Gemini, and this time. He couldn't be training another pokemon at this time. Threats of war were being made, and by his mistake and arrogance. He couldn't go training someone else when he had to instruct his other students.

But maybe this new Gemini could be the one to stop the war, like in the prophecy. After all, the new gem found by some pokemon was star-shaped like the one in prophecy. He had to find the gem before anything else. He would only tell the king of this, and his students of course.

"Listen." Zen said, turning to all the pokemon. "You will all be searching for the star crystal. And as soon as it is found, we will find the pokemon who will wear it."

"Yes Master." They all said.

King Breo entered the room, walking up to his brother. He said hello, and started bragging about how his son was learning to use his moves very well. He also said that maybe he'll join the Gemini and help them stop the invading kingdom. Zen wasn't sure why his brother was so happy, but then again Breo didn't know that the fifth Gemini would be revealed, and very soon.

"Aw, Zen you should've seen him. His move was so-"

"Breo listen." Zen snapped. "The fifth Gemini will be revealed, soon. The war will start any day now, and we need to find the last gem."

Breo didn't know what to say. He wanted immediately to get his son the spot, but there wasn't any guarantee that Cyle was going to be the one. It also wouldn't be fair to anyone else. It had to be fair, a test of strength and courage against everyone. The Jolteon thought of one, it would be very fair.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" Breo shouted with joy. "And I know just how to select the new Gemini. You leave that part up to me! Do you know where the crystal is?"

Zen, Zodia, Kila, Luca, and Swipe exchanged glances, all smiling at each other. They had to go back to the smallest village in the kingdom and find the Eevee who kept stealing things. They recognized her in the vision, so she was going to end up unearthing the band with the gem inside. She was destined to.

But if she isn't going to be an Eevee anymore, than how can the prophecy be fulfilled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Cyle: You just totally cliff hung that last chapter. That's not cool bro, totally not cool.**

**Oh well sooorrrrry that two Eevee had to take up all the space in the chapter with their silly argument.**

**Abbie: Yeah Cyle, why would you do that? You know I've been looking forward to this story.**

**Abbie, I said two Eevee. That means both you and Cyle are responsible for the cliff hanger.**

**Cyle: Haha, it's your fault too!**

**Abbie: I can skin you still. If you say one more thing I will do that but before I will eat all your favorite chocolate bars in front of you.**

**Cyle: You don't threaten me.**

**Abbie: Oh that is it! (Tackles Cyle.)**

**Okay, if you guys don't want to see what you evolve into it's fine by me. I'll just kill both of you and make Tony the fifth Gemini.**

**Cyle: What? No! (Sits and straightens back.)**

**Abbie: I wanna see! I wanna see! (Sits, slouched.)**

**Eh, good enough. ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

**Chapter 3**

**Sparks**

Abbie woke up and stretched her legs, yawning exhaustedly. She was up late last night, trying to find some food which only came out to half an Oran berry. But she ate it gratefully, checked on the stone, and went to bed. After waking up fully, she noticed the fire had died, and jumped to see how the stone had turned out.

Unwrapping the sticky leaves from the hardened stone, she saw the Thunderstone completely finished. It didn't have the lightning bolt shape inside or the perfect formation of a normally seen Thunderstone, but it would do. Abbie grabbed the leaves she had stuck together last night and carefully wrapped them around the finished stone, making sure she didn't touch it because if she did, she would evolve in the wrong place.

No, the female Eevee wanted to evolve in a special place. It was called Wisp Pond, a place where pokemon often went to calm down. Abbie wanted the happiest day of her life to be right there, atop the small waterfall. She was very excited to evolve, and she never cared what she evolved into mostly because she would have a chance to redo her life, but a small part was because she really couldn't decide which evolution to evolve into. She knew, though, the one she didn't want to evolve into, and that was Sylveon, the froufrou fairy type.

Abbie clenched the ends of leaves between her teeth and ran straight through the forest, moving her paws along the path that she had forged herself. Once, she almost dropped the Thunderstone, but she caught it just in time and kept running. She finally started hearing the bustling sounds of pokemon buying objects and selling them.

The Eevee casually walked into the village, carrying the stone proudly in her teeth. She ignored the pokemon who told her to leave and the ones who grabbed all their items off the display and hiding them away. She just walked through like she had come here every day and not stolen anything. Pokemon had begun to worry so much that a Kecleon stepped in her path and dared to stand up to her.

"What have you stolen this time?' he asked.

"I haven't stolen a thing." She answered defensively, putting the stone down. "Like you believe that though."

The Kecleon narrowed his eyes. "Open it. I want to see."

"Gladly."

Abbie slowly unwrapped the leaves, revealing a Thunderstone hiding away in there. The Kecleon marveled at the sight, not believing it himself. But when he went to grab it, the fox pokemon smacked his and away and quickly wrapped her Thunderstone back up.

"See." She mocked. "I couldn't have stolen it because only the king has these. I made it out of a bunch of pieces I found over the years."

"Don't think you're off the hook yet, little girl." The Kecleon growled. "I'm going to send a letter to the castle and see if you did steal it. For now, I'm must hold onto it."

The older pokemon quickly went to grab the stone, but Abbie was faster, coating her tail in iron and smacking Kecleon right on the jaw. The Eevee walked past him, smacking the pokemon with Iron Tail again. She gave a loud bark, sending the Kecleon running, and started running herself, eager to get to the pond and evolve.

But she wasn't as pleased as she should've been upon arriving at the water's edge. She saw two pokemon at the top of the waterfall, a small and weak Pikachu in danger of falling, and an Eelektrik trying to push the mouse pokemon. Abbie quickly hid her Thunderstone in a bush and jumped up the pokemon-made stairs, seeing the Pikachu already falling.

"What's the matter?" the Eelektrik taunted. "Can't fight back?"

"Leave me along Tyler!" the mouse pokemon yelled with his squeaky voice. "I don't have one!"

Tyler, the Eelektrik, smacked the Pikachu with his tail. Abbie was very quick. She ran, tackling the electric type eel and used her teeth to grab the Pikachu's rectangular tail. Using all the energy she could muster, and hitting Tyler with Iron Tail a couple of times, she was finally able to pull the pokemon back onto solid ground. Abbie wasn't through yet; she turned around and glared right at Tyler, ready to kill him.

"Leave the pokemon alone!" she yelled.

"He owes me a Thunderstone, and I demand to get it one way or another."

"Tell you what. We battle. If I win you leave the Pikachu alone. If you win, I'll give you my Thunderstone."

The Pikachu stepped in. "You don't have to do that for me."

Abbie ignored the Pikachu and held her glare on the eel, itching to fight him. She wasn't about to let someone get away with picking on a smaller pokemon. The Eelektrik cracked his neck, trying to look tough, and gave a low growl, trying to intimidate the Eevee.

"Okay, let's start."

Tyler quickly charged up electricity and shot it at the normal type, but she saw it coming and dodged it without effort, sending an insult toward him. Again, Tyler shot electricity and again Abbie dodged them, using more insults to make him angry. The Eevee wasn't worrying about attacking right now, she was having too much fun.

The opposing pokemon switched moves, pulling a dangerous liquid from the life source in his chest. Abbie saw him charging up a powerful Acid attack and formed an idea in her head. She got in a perfect attacking stance and drew out the dark energy in her life source, forming the perfect sphere in front of her. Just as Tyler sent the Acid attack spraying from his mouth, Abbie released Shadow Ball which successfully blocked the poisonous attack and created a wall of smoke.

The Eevee prepared her next attack, digging five feet into the ground within ten seconds. She could feel the slither of her opponent trying to confuse her by moving around. It didn't work though, she burst through the ground, unsheathing her claws and unleashing Fury Swipes right at the pokemon's face. The Eelektrik screamed in pain but fought back within a few scratches. He twisted his body around Abbie's pinning her arms to her side.

Abbie yelped once, but gritted her teeth and withstood the pain as Tyler wrapped harder and tighter. The Eelektrik snickered and glared at his prey in the eyes, wrapping tighter again.

"Looks like you're going to owe me a Thunderstone," Tyler laughed.

Abbie saw an opening in the attack, her tail was free from Bind's grip. She quickly coated it in iron, smacking the eel's body. The electric type hissed and slipped off the Eevee, giving her a chance to breathe and form a Shadow Ball. Just when the normal type released it, she made sure to kick some dirt into the air so that Tyler couldn't see it coming.

All Abbie heard was a hiss after Shadow Ball hit the eel, and when the mixture of sand and smoke cleared, she saw him slip away. The Eevee yawned in satisfactory and pranced over to the small Pikachu who watched the entire thing. He smiled gratefully at her.

"Thank you, Miss." He said.

Abbie smiled. "You know he's going to come back and pick on you more right."

"Yeah. But I'll be fine."

"Here, I want to give you something to help you defend yourself."

The Pikachu didn't know what to expect as he followed Abbie down the stone stairs, but when he saw her digging through a bush he got a pretty good idea. The Eevee pulled out something wrapped in leaves, and as she took the leaves off, the electric mouse squealed with joy.

"It's a Thunderstone!" the Pikachu screamed. "You're really going to give it to me?"

Abbie nodded. "You need it more than I do. Go evolve in front of your family. I'm sure they want to see."

"Thank you so much Miss…"

"Oh, my name's Abbie."

"Thank you Miss Abbie. And I'm Colt. I'll find some way to thank you, I promise."

"Don't worry about it."

Abbie watched as the sweet Pikachu picked up the leaf wrapped Thunderstone and pranced off. The normal type felt happy, but sad and disappointed. Her one and probably only chance to evolve was taken away from her by destiny. That Pikachu needed the stone so he wouldn't get killed by the Eelektrik, and destiny is what got her to make the Thunderstone for him. Arceus does have his reasons for putting pokemon on Earth, but Abbie had yet to find her reason.

As the Eevee slowly walked through the town square with her tail between her legs, she heard the gasps of pokemon and the rustling of objects being hidden. She didn't care though, she was just sad that her chance was gone. Her mood brightened a little bit when she realized that the Pikachu said he would thank her in some way. Maybe he would bring her an apple or Oran berry when she was really hungry.

When the pokemon realized that she wasn't evolving, they started teasing and mocking her. The Eevee sniffled, using her paw to wipe her watering eyes. The town square pokemon started making fun of her for that too. Abbie had enough and ran through the rest of the town, tripping once she entered the forest because she was crying so hard.

Abbie lay there on her stomach for an hour, crying her heart out. It wasn't fair that everyone treated her like an outcast. If one pokemon gave her a chance, than everyone would trust her and she would make some friends. It wasn't her fault that everything turned out this way. She was a cub when she was abandoned, and she knew nothing but no one even looked at her. Because of the lack of attention, she stole things without anyone noticing. Why did Arceus have to choose her for this?

Abbie finally found the strength to stand, but she didn't want to return home now, so she set her balance on her back legs and started burrowing through the ground. Slowly, her crying stopped, and she was digging very deep. Her entire body was leaned in with her back legs still holding her in case she was coming back up.

Abbie's claw slid against something hard, making an eerie scratching sound. Her ears cringed but she kept pushing away dirt with her paws until she saw something blue. She leaned further into the hole and grabbed the pointed blue thing with her teeth, yanking and yanking until it popped out.

A pair of red eyes watched the Eevee as she was digging. The pokemon pulled out a yellow band with the light blue crystal attached to it. Four others behind the pokemon started to move forward to take the object. Zen stopped his students from jumping into action to take the crystal necklace, to take the last gem. The Umbreon wanted to see what the Eevee would do, how she would respond to finding the weapon to limitless power. First, Abbie sniffed it, trying to pick up a scent of who it belonged to, but it was too rusty and old for someone's scent to still be on it.

Abbie decided to wash it off for herself to wear. It had been buried in the ground far too long to belong to anyone by now. The Eevee slipped her head through the loop and trotted along the dirt path, making her way over to the pond where she would wash the dirt off the crystal necklace.

"Should we stop her now?" whispers Swipe, eager to see how the last gem worked.

Zen shook his head slowly. "I want to see what she does with it."

The five of them slowly and quietly follow the brown furred pokemon, watching the way she carefully scrubbed the blue crystal with the pad of her paw so she wouldn't scratch the mineral. Once it was perfectly clean, with no trace of dirt or rust, Abbie pulled it onto the grass with great care.

"I think I'll keep it," she says to herself. "It's very pretty."

Abbie leaned down to slip her head in the loop. A blur sprawled across a distance of fifteen feet in two seconds. The Eevee yipped as a sharp pain emitted in her right side, letting her body go limp. The Headbutt attack had flung her five feet in the air and into the water where she flailed for two seconds. She was quickly able to sit up and gulp own air, but once she who was grabbing her necklace, she fought back.

A Shadow Ball formed in front of her and she fired it at the Umbreon who quickly blocked it with Iron Tail, letting out a fearsome snarl with it. Abbie jumped out of the pond and prepared to snap at the dark type, but gave it a second thought when he growled at her. They both circled around the blue gems, growling and baring their teeth at one another, until Luca threw a small Aura Sphere at the Eevee. The normal type rolled a few times before stopping herself, finding that Zen held her priceless jewel that she found.

"Hey!" she barked. "That's mine! Give it back!"

Zen chuckled. "This isn't yours." He said simply, flicking his tail at her when he turned around. "It belongs to us."

"No it doesn't! I found it so it's mine!"

"Now it's ours!" Swipe cawed.

Abbie let out a fearful snarl. "Oh I see. You tell me it's wrong to steal but then you go do it yourself! Real heroic!"

"You don't know that we just did you a favor." Kila says. She turns to the rest of them, speaking, "C'mon we have to get back to the castle."

The five of them took off running, and Abbie followed quickly, trying to catch them. She chased them through the woods, past all the markets for buying items, and during the run she was yelling for them to stop, adrenaline pushing through her bloodstream. Her chest is quickly rising and falling, and her heartbeat is fast, but mostly she is out of breath. Her throat feels sticky, swallowing is difficult, but she was more focused on trying to clear the tears from her eyes rather than her burning chest.

She didn't understand why everything bad was happening to her. Friends, none. Job, none. Chances, none. Evolution, gone. Home, gone. Nothing was fair for the Eevee, life was treating her like a rag doll, just throwing her around and messing with her feelings. The two things she actually didn't steal were taken away from her like that.

A Buizel walked by the collapsed Eevee, seeing her wet face and red eyes. He rolled his eyes, pulling a sheet of paper out of the stack he held with his tail. He placed down a box of nails, taking out one, and hammered it into the wooden mast. The Buizel turned around, seeing the brown pile of fur motionless. He pushed the normal type with his foot, seeing her stir, and walked away as Abbie pulled herself up. She had been asleep right on that spot for a few hours. The sun was nearly about to set, and the Eevee timed that it would be dark before it got home.

Just as she was about to walk, the pokemon noticed something. Her ears perked in the direction of the flyer nailed into the mask. She took a few steps back and sideways so she could read what the piece of paper said, and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes streamed along the lines filed with words. The poster depicted a star with a giant question mark hanging over it.

It read, _"The fifth Gemini will soon be revealed. A competition will be held in one week to decide who it is. It is free to anyone who enters, but each pokemon must be evolved. The castle will be sending out chariots to collect entrees from the villages, and there will also be a test for pokemon that can evolve into two or more pokemon and the test will determine the evolution."_

Abbie skipped the rest of the explanation and looked at the date near the bottom of the paper. Tomorrow. She would be evolving tomorrow, probably late during the day, but still tomorrow. Abbie jumped in joy, getting a running start toward home where she would gather all the things she has, and prepare to leave tomorrow. She wished tomorrow would come sooner.


	4. Chapter 4

**Cyle: Well?**

**Well what?**

**Abbie: He wants to know what I'm going to evolve into. I told him that I won't know until the test so he just needs to shut his mouth and wait.**

**Doesn't he even want to know what he evolves into? I mean it's clear that he is going to enter the competition.**

**Cyle: Wait! I get to enter the tournament? And evolve?**

**Um, yeah. You are a main character in the story. I guarantee that almost all the viewers knew you were going to enter.**

**Cyle: Sweet! Can I evolve into something cool? Like a Jolteon? Or maybe a Flareon? What about a Glaceon?**

**Actually I was thinking about making you into a Vaporeon or a Sylveon. Something that screams 'I'm a wimp!'**

**Abbie: Haha! Yeah, that'll teach the miserable runt whose boss…Hey what am I evolving into?**

**Cyle: Make her a Sylveon, not me!**

**Abbie: Hey this wouldn't have started if you had just kept your yap shut!**

**Both of you be quiet. I'll just tell you what you both evolve into. Will that make you happy?**

**Cyle: Yes! Yes! Oh my gosh, I can't wait.**

**Abbie: I'd prefer to wait and let it be a surprise, but whatever.**

**You guys ready or not?**

**Cyle/Abbie: Yes.**

**Are you sure?**

**Abbie/Cyle: Absolutely!**

**Okay, you both evolve into…**

**Bidoof!**

**Chapter 4**

**The Test Part 1**

"Are you ready son?" Breo asked the male Eevee. "The test will determine which evolution you get."

Cyle shook his head. "I'm not worried. I think I'll get a good evolution. Maybe I'll get the dark type like Uncle Zen."

"Maybe." The Jolteon said.

Father and son waited right outside the door, with about five pokemon in front of them, waiting to take the test for evolution. About twenty more were behind them, very nervous. They all waited in the castle, examining everything they could and eating anything that was offered to them. These pokemon usually never had any castle food, because they were all from the other towns and villages. Cyle was the only one, along with the Gemini and his dad and uncle, and he wasn't too pleased when he found out the pokemon were going to be staying in rooms near his own.

That was part of training; each pokemon entering the competition would get their own room so they could attend training earlier, and everyone would eat together. Training was one week long with a one hour break every day for lunch. Today would be used for meeting each other and having introduction battles and trying out all the training equipment. Everyone would also be able to meet Breo and the Gemini.

"Julie."

A small Wartortle jolted upright at hearing her name. She didn't hear any chatting among the other competitors, or even the loudness of her own breathing, she only heard the pounding of her heart and the thoughts in her head. She was frightened at entering this competition, and she could only evolve one more time before it, so she thought that maybe if she did evolve she would win. Now she wasn't so sure.

"Julie." The female Meowstic called, firmness in her voice.

Julie gulped and entered the examination room, leaving the others curious at what was awaiting. Cyle knew of course what the test room looked like. It was basically just a glass circle in the middle of a circular room that glowed when it sensed the aura of a pokemon. There was also a monitor that showed everything that was going on in the pokemon's mind. Cyle didn't know exactly how the test worked, but he knew the room and that was enough to keep him calm.

"Abbie."

The Eevee got up proudly, walking over to the door. She saw that Cyle was next, and smirked toward him. Cyle gritted his teeth and growled aloud, catching everyone else's attention. Abbie flicked her tail in the male Eevee's face and prance through the door, shutting it with a loud thud.

Immediately, everyone erupted in chatting and laughter, causing Cyle to blush at his actions. When a pokemon looked his way, he pretended not to notice and looked forward like he was examining the door. His anger boiled inside of him, almost to the point where he unsheathed his claws, but he didn't. Instead, a Braixen caught his attention.

"Cyle." She called, gesturing to a room when he stepped forward.

Cyle gulped loudly, almost not hearing his dad's good luck. He stood up and walked in, finding another hallway with five other doors. The fire type led him to the last room, closing the door behind her after they both entered the room. Cyle immediately went to the glass, stepping on with one paw at a time before the pokemon even told him to. She was surprised that he knew exactly what to do, but continued with the test.

"Nervous?" she asked.

Cyle perked his ears up. "Not really. Whatever I evolve into isn't going to be that bad."

"That's an opinion. I had a Kirlia come in this room, and he wasn't very happy that he evolved into Gardevoir."

"Eh, I'll make my evolution work."

The Braixen chuckled, pouring a blue substance into a wooden bowl. She shoved the liquid over to Cyle, telling him to drink it. At the first sip, the normal type didn't want anymore, but as he drank the rest, the awful taste just went away. Waiting for something to happen, Cyle sat down as Braixen worked on the monitor.

"So what does-," Cyle started, yawning in the middle of his sentence. "-this stuff do?"

"Well the liquid has a microscopic transmitter that will send the data from your test to the monitor. You'll know the rest once it happens."

Cyle's vision began to blur as he listened closer. Braixen's words became hard to understand as his eyelids started to droop. The Eevee's brown legs slipped under him as he fell on the glass with a thud. The pokemon's eyelids slid closed and he was out like a light. Naturally, his paws pulled to his chest so he looked like a sleeping ball of fur.

* * *

The Eevee didn't know it, but he was inside a dream, controlling his every action. First, he was standing in complete darkness. Nothing else was around him, just the little Eevee in darkness. He tried walking forward, getting little progress as something blocked Cyle's way. It seemed like an invisible wall, built to keep him from going in that direction.

Cyle sighed loudly, turning around which caused more darkness to flood his vision. But, it looked like something moved, a wall maybe. Three, granite squares, perfectly in line, formed on the ground, rising up and curling on the edges to form pillars which were perfectly flat on the top.

On the first pillar, there was a rock. Perfectly smooth and softly colored white like milk. The color reminded him of the rock found at the bottom of a river, perfectly formed with no scratches. As he walked closer, he saw static twinge around the area of the pillar. A scorching heat emitted from the pillar as well, causing the normal type to sweat. Cyle stepped back from the pillar, glancing over at the next one.

A small, pink heart floated two inches above the flat surface, sending off a happy vibe. Cyle could feel the warmth and friendliness as if it was a real pokemon with real feelings. He wanted to walk right over and hug the floating image. But, first, he would look at the last one, just to make sure that there wasn't anything better sitting on it.

His assumptions to look were wrong. On the last pillar was a pile of dirt that seemed as if it were frozen. Cyle didn't find it interesting, or appealing at all about the piece of earth, so he quickly brushed it off, focusing his attention. As his claws were about to grip around the soft heart, it dissolved into the air.

Suddenly, Cyle fell on the ground face down, feeling the soft grass beneath him. He wasn't sure how it got there, or when, but it was like he was transported to an entirely different world. He gathered himself and stood up, examining his surroundings. He was on a grassy plain with the wind blowing softly, a few trees in front of him catching the breeze. However, the one-hundred eighty degrees behind him were of different times and features.

The first was at nighttime, and nocturnal pokemon were making all sorts of noises to symbolize they were active. The second was during the day, full of sunshine and happiness. The third was part of the grassy plain, only filled with a pink mist.

Cyle's curiosity lead him closer and closer to the misty world which lead him closer to his evolution into the very pokemon that lurked in the land. A bright light flashed from the dark, sending a reaction into the Eevee. He turned his head and bolted into the dark, curious to see what was hiding. But, the second his paw touched the different time zone, his mind snapped awake.

Cyle was once again in the test room, curled up but awake. His pulled his head up and looked around, seeing the Braixen smiling and holding a bowl of water. The Eevee took it gratefully and drank all of it down to the last drop. While waiting for the Braixen to finish messing with the monitor, Cyle's brain was itching to find out what he'd evolve into.

"What did I get?" he blurted out.

Braixen laughed. "Well, according to the things you chose, it looks like you'll be evolving into Umbreon."

"Really?!" Cyle asked, shaking off some sleepiness. "The dark type?"

The fire type nodded, laughing under her breath. "Yes. Now go through the door at the end of the hallway. Some pokemon are already training."

Cyle stood on his feet, stretching all his tired muscles. Yawning and drinking some more water, he stepped off the glass, causing the faint yellow glow to darken until it was gone. As the Eevee was about to walk out of the door, he stopped, realizing he didn't evolve.

"Wait. When do I get to evolve? Wasn't it supposed to be right after the test?"

"Yes, but you need to evolve at night to become that pokemon. Just wait, it'll be worth it."

Cyle nodded, thanking the young lady and walking out the examination room door. He walked down the hallway he knew so well and entered the training room, seeing the familiar equipment and fields. His training was supposed to be easy since he used all this stuff before. He thought his skill level was higher than everyone else's, so that he didn't need much training. Cyle was expecting a leisurely week of sleeping in, eating great foods, and learning about how he was going to use the snow colored gem.

The normal type noticed everyone else gathered around the sixth and last battlefield. He curiously walked over, elbowing his way through the crowd of pokemon. What he saw though, made his blood boil.


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the event of the evolution test printed in the last chapter. All credit goes to Veronica Roth, author of the book _Divergent_. You should go read it; it's a very nice book.**

**Abbie: Uh, what are you doing?**

**I'm disclaiming the evolution test.**

**Abbie: Why?**

**Because I didn't make it. Veronica Roth did. She's a nice author. I have another disclaimer. I do not own the test thingy used to determine evolution.**

**Cyle: Hey I've read that book before. It's about that girl who takes this test that determines…her… Hey! Wait a minute!**

**Abbie: I'm waiting.**

**Cyle: You thief! You totally stole that from Veronica Roth.**

**I know, that's why I disclaimed it, just a minute ago. Didn't you hear?**

**Abbie: He's got a thick skull so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't get in.**

**Cyle: No I was focused on the movie that's coming out. It's based on the book.**

**Oh, another one. DISCLAIMER: I do not own a term coming up in this chapter. I do, however, own a little bit of the meaning behind this term because it is not the one used in the book if you've read it. You will know which half I don't own if you read the book. If you didn't read the book I will tell you next chapter.**

**Chapter 5**

**The Test Part 2**

Abbie waited right by a dirt road where she would be picked up and brought to the castle to evolve. Her feet shuffled along the grass and she was forced to stand and wait. Her heart was pumping fast, and she could feel butterflies of excitement in her stomach. The Eevee couldn't wait to evolve and enter that competition to show off her power. She didn't care about winning, only the evolution she would get.

A wooden cart was pulled closer to the last town by two Ponyta. They had been walking all day just to get to this one town, to pick up someone who was entering the competition. They couldn't care less who was out here, or why for that matter. Soon they started to talk about if they should even consider coming here, because chances are no one was entering.

"Hey, Mike. Should we even bother stopping at this one?"

"Well if we don't, the King will get pretty mad. And, look, I think I see someone."

As the two fire types pulled up to the entrance, they saw one pokemon, just a little Eevee waiting for them to pick her up. She nodded to them, giving her thanks, and jumped into the wooden cart. The Ponyta turned the cart around, galloping back the way they came so they wouldn't be late for whatever the king had planned.

Also sitting in the blue cart from the castle was a Growlithe, and a rude one at that. He didn't move over so she could sit, and tried to push her back off the cart. Abbie growled at him once, letting her claws scratch the blue off the wood. The fire type snickered, puffing his chest out to look huge and threatening, but the Eevee wasn't threatened in the slightest bit.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "Afraid to lose to a girl?"

"No!" he answered quickly. "You just shouldn't be here. Only the pokemon who have a chance should enter."

"So why are you here?"

That comment shut the Growlithe right up, and Abbie later learned that his name was Bryon. He had a temper, and Abbie would make sure to use that against him. But, for now, she lay down and watched as the grass plains went by and the mountains and ocean until she finally saw the castle.

* * *

Her heart could feel evolution getting closer and closer, so it beat faster to keep up with the Eevee's excitement. She was behind many pokemon who had gotten there before her, but that didn't matter; she only cared about evolving and getting a new life, a redo. Abbie could feel her claws unsheathing because she couldn't contain her excitement. The test didn't even bother her, or the fact that she might get a Sylveon. She would make it work no matter what pokemon she would become.

"Abbie."

Using all of her energy to contain running through the test room doors, she stood up calmly and started approaching the male Meowstic who was waiting for her. She walked past another Eevee and paused a moment to see who it was. He was clearly annoyed that she got to go before him, so she smirked causing the pokemon to grit his teeth and let a growl form in the back of his throat.

The growl was so loud that every pokemon in line started to stare at him, and he shuffled back a little, carefully hiding his embarrassment. Abbie saw it though, flicking her tail into his face before proudly walking through the door. Even when the door closed, she could hear the laughter of many other pokemon in the hall.

The male Meowstic, James, lead her into the fourth room before the door that lead to the training room which she would go to after evolution. Her heart raced very fast, causing Abbie to drink the blue liquid too quickly and fall asleep just as fast. Her mind was fully aware and awake during the dream. She was fully aware that she was taking a test.

Three columns appeared in the blackness Abbie was also in, and a voice in the back of her head told her to choose one, just one item on top of one column. She didn't want to though, she wanted it to be chosen for her because that was what the test did. The Eevee wasn't supposed to have to decide on her own, that's what this test was for, and she didn't care which evolution she got.

Abbie was stubborn, sitting flat on her tail and refusing to choose whatever item she was supposed to. The test changed to make her decide which evolution. The three items transformed into seven, spreading in a circle around her. There was a droplet of water, a dancing ball of electricity, a flame, two leaves crossing over each other, a broken piece of ice, a moon, a sun, and a small sparkle.

Again, the voice shouted for Abbie to choose one, but she refused. She made up her mind that she wasn't going to pick, that the test had to choose it for her. She lay down and put her head into her paws, closing her eyes to go to sleep. The voice became a command in her head but she didn't listen, determined not to let someone else have their way.

Her mind snapped into the real world, and James had no idea what evolution she was but he did know what happened to her. She wasn't a normal pokemon that normally wanted a specific evolution. Abbie wanted her evolution to be chosen for her unlike most pokemon.

Abbie woke up and yawned, stretching her claws out. Standing up she glanced over at the psychic type pokemon, expecting him to say her evolution. She sort of remembered what the test was, but not what she chose, or that she didn't choose. Abbie stood in silence as James pondered how he should tell her what she was, what she was going to do.

"Well?" Abbie growled. "What's my evolution?"

Again, there was another pause of silence and Abbie grew impatient. She wanted to know what evolution she was getting, and she wanted to know now. The blue furred Meowstic couldn't believe that this little Eevee was going to cause so much destruction, but he wasn't going to tell her. Maybe by not saying it, she would make the right choices.

"Okaaaay," Abbie yawned. "Can you just tell me what type I am? Or are we just going to stand here all day?"

"Oh!" James snapped back into reality from thinking. "Well, the results of your test, weren't what was expected."

"Well what was expected?"

"You were supposed to choose what evolution you wanted, but you didn't choose anything. This type of thing is known as Divergent."

"Divergent? Does this mean I can't evolve?!"

"No, you can evolve, it just means that you don't show the qualities of just one of your evolutions. You have the qualities of every evolution, but no one can know you're Divergent."

"Why can't anyone know?"

"They just can't. You need to hide it by picking one evolution."

Abbie didn't want to choose, she wanted someone else to choose for her. That's why she took the test: to determine her evolution. But, as the Eevee started to think about it, perhaps it was better if she chose because then she would know she really got what she wanted. She would be able to choose her type instead of having normal.

Abbie looked up at him and told him her evolution pick.

"Okay." James answered. "I'll come get you when it's."

The normal type nodded in thanks and followed the directions to get to the training room. She saw many types of training equipment, but no one was using any of them. Everyone was gathered at a battlefield near the end of the huge room, watching a battle. Abbie ran over to see who was battling, and to her surprise it was that Growlithe she saw in the cart. Only he had evolved into an Arcanine.

Arcanine rammed right into another pokemon, sending his opponent flying across the field. The fire type charged up a Flamethrower, ready to unleash it at the pokemon.

"Okay! I'm down Bryon!"

"That's what I thought." The Arcanine said, prancing back to his side of the field. The opposing pokemon ran back with his friends. "Which one of you losers is next?"

"I think I'll try my luck."

A path between the crowd of pokemon cleared out to reveal Abbie. She walked forward with a devilish smile on her face like she was going to kill someone. The second she set paw on the field, the crowd of pokemon filled the aisle they made and watched her take place at her side of the battlefield. Bryon laughed.

"Look it's the pathetic Eevee back to get beat up." He chuckled. "What are you going to do? Cuddle me?"

All the pokemon laughed, including Bryon who kept his eyes closed because he was laughing so hard. Abbie saw her chance to humiliate him. She bolted forward with immense speed, and even though it wasn't a Quick Attack, it sure looked like it. The Eevee jumped midair, her tail coated with iron, and smacked the Arcanine right in the face with Iron Tail. While he was still taking in the impact, she flipped around and swiped at his face. Pushing off Bryon's face, Abbie jumped back to her side.

"Too bad your paws aren't as fast as your mouth." Abbie insulted. A roar of laughter erupted through the crowd, causing Bryon to blush with anger and embarrassment.

"Alright Eevee." He started. "You want to play that way, we'll play that way."

Bryon's body swirled with a dancing fire, making him hard to see through the flames. He charged forward with great speed, making the fire spin backward until smaller flames extinguish behind his running paws. Abbie unsheathed her claws and burrowed into the ground within seconds, watching the Arcanine's Flame Charge jump over the circle that let light into the dark hole. Burn marks were left in the sand as Bryon skidded to a halt. The fire type turned right around, letting his move break apart, and began to push dirt away from the tiny hole. His over-sized paws fixed the problem and he was soon two feet away from slashing Abbie.

The Eevee continued to dig deeper into the ground, starting to go up back toward air. However, an Arcanine's claw hooked onto the bushy Eevee tail, dragging her back into the dirt before she got above ground. He inhaled, sparking the orb in his chest to form a fire in the back of his throat. Abbie could already tell the pokemon was charging up some sort of attack, so she twisted onto her back and clawed furiously at the red paw. He let go, only to release a deadly Flamethrower into a dead end hole and watch pieces of his attack burn out the other side. Abbie had to have been knocked out by the powerful attack.

The crowd of pokemon watched the floor of the battlefield for several minutes, expecting Abbie to crawl out broken and burned. But she didn't, not even a piece of her burnt fur floated out. Nothing. Bryon snorted in a hard earned victory, peering into the hole one last time to see Abbie's unconscious body lying in helpless defeat. All the pokemon were disappointed to see the high-spirited Eevee who had such a strong beginning just be defeated.

Dust whipped up into the air after a hard impact sounded through the air, startling all the pokemon. As the sand cleared, the small normal type's head peaked through out of the dirt. Bryon was lying on the dirt after being hit by the Eevee's move. She carefully climbed back onto the battlefield, smiling because she knew the Arcanine had been knocked out by her Shadow Ball.

The Eevee's face was blackened by singed fur, which gave evidence that she burrowed off to the side while facing the fire. Other than that, she was perfectly fine with her shiny pelt and smirk on her face. Abbie felt proud and superior to the Arcanine who had lost against her.

She waltzed up to Bryon. "Who doesn't have a chance now?"

Growling, knowing he was too weak to fight back, Bryon grudgingly dragged himself to stand and walked over to the crowd of pokemon. He slumped to a sitting position, breathing slowly. Abbie smirked at him, before walking over to the winner's side of the battlefield.

"Does anyone else want to battle me?" She asked with innocence in her voice.

"I will!"

Another Eevee pushed his way past the other pokemon. He got in his place, stretching his claws and yawning, making his strong points visible to the opposing normal type. Abbie puffed in disapproval, seeing that the other Eevee just show which points to avoid.

"I know you." Abbie stated. "You were that guy in line."

"My name is Cyle." The male said rudely. "And you?"

"I'm Abbie. You should really be careful who you challenge."

"You should be careful what challenges you accept."

"Let's just start fighting. You have first move."

The male Eevee pulled half of the energy in his orb to form Shadow Ball. Once full, he released it but Abbie made no effort to dodge as it slowly zigzagged its way toward her. She stood, and the ghost type move passed right through her, giving absolutely no damage.

Cyle was startled at the move he worked hard to make. It passed right through her and was destroyed by the ground behind Abbie. How was it possible it had no effect? Abbie shook her head to blow off the chill Shadow Ball sent down her spine. Then she looked up at Cyle with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"You don't know much about types, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Cyle asked, gritting his teeth.

The female normal type rolled her eyes. "Ghost type moves have no effect on normal types. And the same the other way around."

Cyle became aggravated, so he decided to use his next move. He jumped into his fastest run with a trail of air following close behind. Abbie saw him unsheathe his claws just yards before hitting her. He was going to try a combo attack. Fury Swipes combined with a quick attack could do some damage to a pokemon.

Abbie mentally got ready for his attack. As he bolted forward, she noticed he started running with his right paw, so that was the one he would try to scratch her with first. She noticed his weak point too: he left his sides exposed to attacks, so she would use that against him.

Just as she predicted, Cyle made his first swipe with his right paw, and Abbie reacted by moving her head to the left. She backed up as Cyle kept swinging his claws, left and right, left and right. The female yawned, closing her eyes as she kept dodging flawlessly.

"You're so predictable." She yawned.

"What do you mean by that?" Cyle took another swing and Abbie dodged. "I don't see you attacking."

"Exactly. You expect me to react but I don't. That's precisely the point."

At that moment, instead of moving her head, she ducked down and unsheathed her claws. In one swift moment, she knocked him backward with the swipe of her claw and burrowed into the ground. Cyle regained his balance quickly, looking around for the Eevee to come back and attack, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd you go?" He yelled.

Abbie snickered. "I dug into the ground genius. Man, you really don't know any attacks."

Abbie burst through the ground under Cyle, smacking her body into him. She then quickly coated her tail in iron and jumped, ready to end it. Cyle lay on the ground, still fazed by the Dig attack. The female Eevee flipped midair and aimed for Cyle's side, just inches away from hitting him. But something stopped her, a Psychic attack. She was placed on the ground, still held onto, and watched Cyle get up heavily. The male Meowstic came up to both of them.

"Come with me."

The blue furred pokemon lead them out of the training room, down several hallways which were familiar to Cyle, but unpredictably confusing for Abbie. The prince grew up in these hallways so he should know but Abbie wasn't raised in some fancy castle, she grew up alone working for her right to evolve. Cyle squeaked with excitement once they entered a room. It was just like the test room, only with a glass ceiling that could be seen because of the moonlight. They would both evolve here and now, all they needed was to look at the moon.

"Where'd the time go?" Abbie muttered as she joined Cyle in the middle of the room.

Abbie exhaled, closing her eyes and tilting her head toward the sky. As she opened her beautiful, brown eyes, the change began, starting with the little orb in her heart. Slowly, the normal energy was draining from her life source, evaporating from her body with a light entrapping the Eevee. Her body pulled in all the darkness and moonlight in, forcing it into her life source. It filled with blackness and a little bit of other air-like materials. With the orb in her heart different, her body needed to change to adapt.

The fluffy, white collar that hung around her neck was the first to change. Slowly, the fur started to shorten and fold against her neck, giving it a black appearance. One by one, every stand of fur disappeared, leaving only slicked black fur along her neck. The rest of her pelt also became the same color, in the same exact way. Slowly, four ovals of fur disappeared, being replaced by yellow rings on her shoulders and thighs. They started glowing with a mysterious light. The same happened on her forehead, only the one there made her feel in control of the others.

The bushy tail had to go too. The fur folded and shrunk into thin, black strands that made her tail smaller and not as furry. The cream tipped top was replaced by one ring that circled a part near the tip of her tail, only it didn't glow like the other three. The facial features of the  
evolving pokemon began to take shape, her ears pulling farther back until they were no longer shaped like diamonds. A ring circled around each ear just like the one on her tail. Abbie's eyes changed color, transforming from brown to blood red.

Starting with her snout, it began to grow longer and bigger, fitting the new size of her head. Next, her leg bones pushed against each other letting her grow about two feet higher than she was. Her body grew longer and her strong muscles became slightly more visible due to her lack of skin from not eating.

It was done. Her evolution was complete. She opened her eyes and looked down at herself, feeling the ground farther than she was used to. Her heart beat with excitement and the rings on her body glowed brightly, illuminating the room far beyond the light that was needed. Abbie was too excited to care how she acted, so she let a squeal escape her mouth.

Darkness. She could see clearer in the dark, and everything felt like it was day, only it was night. The darkness poured into her life source and gave her all the energy she needed for her attacks. The Umbreon could live for days without food if she absorbed all this darkness.

Cyle sighed. His evolution wasn't as energizing as he thought it would be. Yeah, he could see in the dark but that was pretty much it. His uncle chose the wrong evolution, and now Cyle was stuck with this one. Whatever, he would make it work and learn any move he wanted once he became the fifth Gemini.

"This is so cool!" Abbie squeaked.

"This is so lame." Cyle complained.

"Why? Did you not want this evolution?"

"It's really stupid. All I can do is see in the dark."

"You should learn to be more grateful. Where I grew up, evolution was like getting a new life. No one tried to help me so I had to steal. I wanted to evolve so badly but I didn't get to choose if I did evolve."

With that, Abbie flicked her tail in his face and walked through the door, following James back to the training room where she would be assigned a room to sleep in. Cyle followed six feet back, not speaking at all when James and Abbie talked with each other. He was trying to find something to say back but he couldn't. He was so going to beat her in training tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Cyle: Why did you do this to me? Do you have any idea how much this is going to kill me?**

**Abbie: You're a monster. How could you do this to me? Some things aren't supposed to happen!**

**Wow, okay. I have no idea why you two are over dramatizing things. What are you even talking about?**

**Abbie & Cyle: OUR EVOLUTION!**

**Whoa, okay take it easy. I though you would both love being Umbreon. Apparently not.**

**Abbie: No, I love my evolution. It's pretty awesome to be an Umbreon. Yeah, can't learn too many dark type moves but it's still really cool to be able to survive days without eating. The only thing I have a problem with is him being the same as me.**

**Cyle: Umbreon totally sucks! I can't learn any moves what so ever! And seeing in the dark? Really? That's not even cool! I could see in the dark as an Eevee.**

**Okay if you two don't like you're evolution maybe I'll rewrite that to make you both Sylveon. Would you like that better?**

**Abbie: Just make him the Sylveon. I can't stand us both being the same thing.**

**Cyle: I actually would rather be a Sylveon than an Umbreon. Can you really change me?**

**I could, but I'm not going to you selfish Eevee. Just go play your part in the story. Abbie, kick his butt for me.**

**Abbie: No problem.**

**Chapter 6**

**The Water Friend**

Sunlight entered through the window and dawned on Cyle's face, piercing through his eyelids. He groaned and rolled over onto his stomach, using his paws to cover his eyes. It surprised him a little when his paws hurt his head instead of just poking him like they normally did, but then when he pulled himself to sit, he saw the black fur covering his three foot sized body. Cyle groaned and dragged himself to the window, checking the sun for the time. The Umbreon jumped in panic, realizing he was late for training.

Cyle quickly ran over to the fountain in his room and dipped his head into the water, scrubbing his face with his paws regardless that they were bigger than before. He barely dried his face on the expensive towel made from Flaffy wool, too busy with finding his necklace he promised King Breo he would wear on the first day of training. After finding it and looking in the mirror to put it on properly, he darted out of his room, slamming the door shut.

The dark type started darting down several hallways, his face drenched and dropping water everywhere. He took one secret passageway that only he knew about, cutting the travel time to the training room in half. The main door was slightly open, and being an Umbreon he should be able to sneak in without being noticed. This was going to be a piece of cake. Cyle should be able to do this.

The dark type rolled his shoulders and stretched his claws, cracking them so he could move without them making noises. He peered inside, the bands of light dying down instinctively. All the pokemon's backs were facing him, and the Gemini were in there along with Zen and the King. It looked like they hadn't started yet, but Zen was actually introducing everyone to his students.

Abbie had gotten an early start this morning, or last night. She didn't sleep all night, spending the entire nighttime outside practicing her moves just for today's training. The Umbreon wasn't tired at all, she got all the energy she needed from the moonlight and darkness. In her eyes, all of the dark stuff was amazing and made her mind wonder how she turned it into energy.

The dark type's ears perked up, and she turned around to see another, older Umbreon walk in with a Gallade, Swellow, Lucario, and Ninetails behind him. However, this time someone else followed behind: a female ice type pokemon wearing a tiara on her head. It was a Glaceon, the queen. Or Queen Clariana, her official title. Quickly, all the pokemon noticed and bowed respectfully for the queen, including Abbie who knew her high place in the kingdom. Since the only female Umbreon was separated from the rest of them, Queen Clariana noticed her alone, and bowed her head back at the pokemon. They both looked each other in the eyes and smiled.

"Attention everyone!" Zen called. Since everyone was already gathered and quiet, it didn't take long to start. Abbie sat right in front, watching his every move and hating him more and more with every word. "Thank you. As you know, this is King Breo and Queen Clariana who are here to see your training. I am Master Zen, and these are the Gemini."

An applause was sent over the crowd of pokemon, which only took a couple of seconds to quiet down because the queen was in the room. Abbie was quiet the whole time and kept her ears perked up for any noises that were to come. As it went on, the four Gemini introduced them.

"I am Zodia," The female Ninetails stated, manipulating a fire in her paws until it burned out. "Master of fire."

"I am Luca," the male Lucario introduced, shaping an Aura Sphere in his hands. He made it into a sharp disc, and even made it take the shape of Zodia. "Master of fighting and aura."

"I am Swipe," the male Swellow chirped, flapping his powerful wings to whip up a tornado and twirl it around all the pokemon. While everyone let out gasps of panic, Abbie didn't even flinch. "Master of air."

"And I am Kila," the female Gallade stepped forward. She focused her psychic powers on the air, making it rush past all the pokemon. "Master of psychic."

"Thank you all-"

A loud slam against the wall caught everyone's attention. Looking behind them, there was another Umbreon, lying face down on the ground. His arms were sprawled onto the floor as well, a symbol of his clumsiness. The door was wide open and touching the wall. Cyle rubbed the back of his head and lifted himself up onto his huge paws. He felt awkward being this big, and the stares of everyone weren't helping either.

"It was nice of you to join us Cyle." Zen said sarcastically. "C'mon, up front where I can see you."

Cyle groaned and walked in front of the pack of pokemon, grumpily and unknowingly sitting down next to Abbie. The female grunted and went back to paying attention to the lesson in today's training for the competition.

"As I was saying," Zen cleared his throat. "Thank you all for volunteering for the Gemini competition. As you know, a few days ago it was told that the fifth Gemini will be revealed to everyone. Next week is when the competition will be held and training will prepare you to face the harshness of the tournament."

Zen gave the stage to Swipe, who immediately flew into the air to show off his speed. Swipe announced that he was going to work with them on speed today, making sure that they could run fast or fly fast for there were flying types entering as well. He needed to make them all about ten percent faster than they were right now and do that by the end of the day. Luca, Zodia, and Kila were going to help him too by explaining to the pokemon how to run properly.

Training started right away. Everyone was led outside to run around the castle once. If they really needed it, they were allowed to have two one-minute rests, but they would still have to finish the lap. Pokemon who finished were permitted to go inside for lunch. Everyone thought it wouldn't take that long, but they didn't take into consideration the side of the castle.

To make it fun for everyone, it was going to be a competition. Whoever finished first would get the special apples picked from a special tree which only grew in one area. Everyone liked the idea of getting those apples so they all got in place, including Abbie. She heard that they were very good for you and easier to eat.

Being Umbreon, both Cyle and Abbie were near the front, but some other pokemon ahead of both of them, including that Arcanine. The bird pokemon who were naturally faster when they flew were ahead of all of them by about fifty yards, only going faster by pulling their feathers closer together. It was an unfair advantage, but they had no choice but to suck it up and try to win. Cyle knew he would win in the end, but he was running as fast as he could to get this over with and eat all those apples.

Cyle looked behind him, seeing all the shorter pokemon way behind them and only fading away as he ran faster. His paws darted along the ground fast, making his breath short right away, but he didn't stop running. The way Cyle moved his paws left claw marks on the ground because he wasn't used to having to keep bigger claws in all the time. Slowly, he passed one pokemon, but then another passed him as well. He was too focused on running to recognize, so he took a quick look and that was all he needed.

Abbie ran different than a normal Umbreon would. She put both front paws on the ground at nearly the same time and sprung her back legs farther than her front to give herself a push. She only ran this way when she needed an extra boost, and soon she returned to her normal running, only running half as fast as she normally did right beside the other Umbreon. Cyle looked at her longer than he should have, missing a turn around the castle.

One pokemon had the smart idea of cutting the edges around the castle, so the Pidgeotto flew higher toward the top of the castle. Once he finally reached it, a Swellow was waiting for someone to come up. Immediately, the Pidgeotto was disqualified from competition and had to fly around three more times, so he took it nice and easy.

Cyle fumbled, his back legs slipping under him. He immediately pulled them right back up and followed around the corner of the castle, his feet moving as fast as they would let him. The male Umbreon quickly caught up with the other one, who was still half trying. She smirked at Cyle, flashing her brightly colored rings and ran a little faster, keeping a steady pace.

"Come on you little Eevee." Abbie taunted. "You've got to be able to run faster."

"Like you're not running as fast as you can." Cyle shot back. He looked back ahead, his breathing heavy. "Hey, looks like I'm not the only one who's going to beat you."

Cecelia was running out of breath, sweat dropping off of her in little droplets. As her blue paws swept across the ground, splashing in the over watered grass, she smiled in success as passing yet another pokemon. She noticed something, not her brother, but the other pokemon like him. The black shadow came running up, the yellow rings glowing with excitement. The blue pokemon smiled in a friendly manner, still running and breathing hard.

Abbie ignored Cyle when he said she would never beat the Vaporeon at this racing game. Abbie wasn't the one to agree with the odds and give up, she pushed it all the way and often won. She reared up behind the pokemon, darting to the Vaporeon's side immediately, finding the water type smiling her way. Abbie smiled back, using her back feet to spring her over a puddle.

"Hi." Cecelia greeted. "I'm Cece. Or Cecelia if you prefer."

"Abbie." The dark type introduced. "It's a pleasure. I'm assuming you're Cyle's sister."

Cece laughed. "Yeah, but I'd prefer if he wasn't. He's not the brightest pokemon he could be."

Abbie joined the water type in her laugh, seeing a shadow passing over them and take a left turn. The dark type switched her legs around using her right paw to propel her around the corner with ease. The Umbreon was determined to follow the shadow, so she aligned her body with the body of the bird above, looking as if she was a part of the shadow. Abbie jumped into the air, her body and legs extending out fully. The air rushed past her fur as if she was flying, and for a second, she thought she was. But the ground rushed under her feet too quickly, and Abbie was forced out of her daydream.

Cece caught up quickly, chuckling. "What was that?" she asked, her mind curious.

"Oh." Abbie forced a laugh at herself. She wanted to try. "I was just imagining something. But I'm okay."

Cyle caught up with his sister and the other girl, clearly annoyed by the third turn they took that made him fall behind again. He was going to win this competition and eat all those apples himself. He forced his tired and aching paws to go faster, finally able to catch up with the two girls in front of him. He wouldn't care if Cece beat him, but that Umbreon is all he really cared about. Beating her would give him bragging rights for life after she told him she was too challenging for him.

"Am I interrupting?" Cyle innocently asked, butting in. He went ahead of them just a bit, annoying both pokemon.

"Actually," Cece started.

"We were just talking about how the flag is right there." Abbie finished, tossing her head forward.

The red flag was right there, only about one hundred yards away, swinging in the steady wind. Zen and Luca were standing right beside it, just waiting to see who would win. Abbie and Cecelia pushed ahead, leaving Cyle in their dust. They raced, neck and neck, smiling at each other. The flag neared closer and closer, until it was about two yards away. They both jumped.

Abbie slammed hard onto her shoulder, clenching her teeth tightly to hold onto the fabric in her mouth. She let out a small whine of pain, feeling a small drop of water roll onto her cheek. The Umbreon rolled and rolled, finally pushing her feet at the right time to slide to a halt. Gasping for breath through her nostrils, she collapsed on the ground, her throat feeling squeezed because of pushing herself too hard.

Cece quickly wrenched her teeth straight through something soft, tasting the awful fabric in her mouth. She didn't dare let go, only falling as something else dragged her. She quickly pitched her legs straight onto the ground, not falling back over again. Cece saw the dark figure on its feet too.

The Umbreon and Vaporeon, both having gained their balance, looked forward to see who was tugging on the other end of the red flag. They met eyes, smiling, and laughing when they realized they both won. Cyle slowed down once he saw them laughing by the finish line, knowing he had already lost. The male slumped down to a sitting position, pouting that he wouldn't get an apple.

Zen approached the two ladies. Abbie had to hold herself from a growl. "Congratulations Cecilia and-"

"Abbie." She braved. "My name is Abbie."

Zen's ears perked up at the sound of her name, and instinctively growled aloud. He knew the faint scent on her was familiar Abbie met his growl, the fur on her spine spiked straight up. She didn't have to look up at him like she did the other times, the female was just as tall as him. The red eyes locked but the growling stopped as they realized others were with them, Cecilia especially. She was confused and ran to get Luca who was checking on the others. He rushed over right away.

"What's going on here?" the Lucario stepped in, separating the Umbreon. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine, Luca!" Zen snapped, his eyes on the other dark type. "Go check on the others!"

Luca hesitated, but he jumped to the top of the castle and down on the other side, running with the others to help them catch up. Zen broke the stare between him and the other dark type, pausing by her as he walked to his niece.

"If you steal anything I'll hunt you down!"

Abbie yawned just to annoy him and waited while he talked with Cecilia, hearing that she was just as beautiful as her mother. When the water type began walking, she questioned her on what her uncle did that for.

"What were you guys growling at each other for?" she asked. "Do you two not like each other?"

"No it's not that." Abbie sighed. "When I was a cub my parents abandoned me in this forest near the outside of the kingdom. No one gave me a chance so I had to steal my food, but your uncle almost always stopped me. I guess we just don't get along."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Why are you sorry?"

"Well it sounds like you had a pretty tough life, and if you don't win this competition you'll have to go back. If I was in your position I would've done the same thing."

Abbie smiled. "Thanks."

Just hearing Cece sound sorry for her made Abbie get a special feeling in her heart. She made a friend, and that was the best present she could ever get. Not knowing she stopped, Abbie skipped to keep up with Cece.

Upon arriving in the dining hall, a huge pile of apples were waiting for both The Umbreon and Vaporeon. Originally, they were both going to split them, but there were far more than they could ever eat, so the girls decided to give one to everyone as they came in. Most said thank you, but Abbie noticed Cyle and the Arcanine walk away from them instead of asking for an apple. She nudged Cece who went to give the red fruit to her brother while Abbie took one to Bryon.

She set it down in front of the fire type, smiling. "Here, I brought you one."

Bryon didn't take it. "Why? I thought you hated me."

"Well that was because you were treating me like I wasn't good enough, so I showed you not to. But I want to patch things up; besides, I'm not the one to hold grudges.

Abbie held out her paw, trying a little harder to hold in her claws because they were bigger than before. The Arcanine looked at the black fur, holding in a smile, and shook it. They would get along just fine now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Abbie: Yay! I got another friend! That makes three!**

**Cyle: Wow. You only have three friends? That's very sad. I've got so many of them I don't know what to do.**

**Abbie: Not everyone can grow up in a castle! Besides, I've got your sister on my side.**

**Cece: Hey guys, what's going on?**

**Cyle: Uhhhhgggg! Why are you here? This is supposed to be my time to shine before the author comes but when I came in this bag of black fur is here all excited that she has some friends! And then you come in to bug me!**

**Abbie: Aw, is the little baby going to cry? Do you need a tissue 'cause you're going to cry?**

**Cyle: Oh my gosh! Shut up! Ugh, girls are so stupid!**

**(storms out of the room.)**

**Cece: Haha! It worked. Now we can get started on the chapter.**

**Abbie: Wait, wait! Why not have a little fun while the author isn't here to bug us?**

**Cece: No Abbie. We have to start the chapter.**

**Abbie: Why?! It's more fun to mess with the author!**

**Cece: Well maybe if you post the chapter then the author will do something nice for you.**

**Abbie: (gasps) You're right! Start the chapter!**

**Chapter 7**

**Dark Fighter**

The blue paws shook the black furred body back and forth, trying to wake up the pokemon who was sleeping. Abbie never really got tired, but sleeping when it was dark outside had its perks. Cecilia shook the dark type again, trying to make her get up and watch the sunrise. Laughing at the Vaporeon, the Umbreon got up and realized how early in the morning it was.

"The sun hasn't even risen yet!" Abbie exclaimed, soaking in the darkness coming through the window. Lucky for her, Cece brought a candle in with her. "Why did you wake me up so early?"

"C'mon, you need to watch the sunrise." Cece grabbed onto Abbie's ear and pulled the dark type forward. "It's really beautiful from the garden."

"I've seen the sunrise before Cece." Abbie complained, pulling her ear away from the water type. "It's not that great."

"You just haven't seen it from the castle. Trust me, you'll love it."

Abbie didn't want to, but knowing Cecilia's stubbornness she went along, hoping that she would enjoy it. The Umbreon never liked watching the sunrise back home; it just reminded her it would be another hard day of survival. Many pokemon judged her the one time she watch the sun slid over the horizon because they thought she was acting like the angel she wasn't. It hurt her feelings, and she never watched it again; it was too hard.

The Vaporeon couldn't wait to get her friend out into the garden. It was very beautiful with all the floral statues of pokemon everywhere. And there were many types of flowers which really made them look like pokemon. It was Cecelia's favorite place in the castle, and she longed to evolve into Leafeon, but it wasn't an option for her. Everyone would get very suspicious if the Eevee she once was evolved into a pokemon she wasn't even close to being like. Everyone saw Leafeon as evil.

As both pokemon pushed the back doors open, they saw shadows casting over the ground. Small slips of sunlight started casting over the mountains in the distance, so Cece led her friend over to the giant sundial in the middle of the flower field. Twelve clear, multicolored gems were set in a circle around the two pokemon, all of them equal length apart. One was set right in the middle. Abbie and Cecilia stood over the glass which protected the ticking clock. The sunlight got closer and closer to the gem carved with the number twelve in it, and the clock ticked closer to seven a.m.

One strip of sunlight touched the top gem just as the second and minute hand pointed toward the sun. The sunlight bent through the gem and bounced to the rest of the eleven forming a circle of blue, red, yellow, purple, pink, and white colored light. Finally, one strand of each color shot to the gem in the middle, sending a beam of multicolored light up through the air and into the sky. Abbie marveled at the beauty of it, placing one paw through the single beam of light. A dazzling warmth filled her body which sent adrenaline through her blood. She felt strength file through her and it was amazing. Even after taking her paw out she could still feel the magnificence.

Cece looked at the smiling Umbreon. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

Abbie snapped her eyes open, coming out of her trance. She looked at the water type. "Oh, yeah. It's very pretty."

"You know this is where the Gemini got their power." Cece stated, catching Abbie's attention. "While wearing the gem and being in the middle of the sundial, the light coming from the sun activates the power in the gem if the right pokemon is wearing it."

"That's really cool." Abbie awed. She needed to ask Cece's opinion on something right away, so she supposed now was better. "Who do you think is going to be the fifth Gemini?"

Cecilia shrugged her shoulders. "It's hard to say. You're better than my brother at battling, but he was raised in the kingdom so he could get information about the competition and cheat. But he isn't the best at battling so if he comes face to face with another pokemon he would probably end up losing."

"I guess you never know. It's anyone's game."

"Yeah, now let's get into the training room. We don't want to miss anything."

Cyle, who had awakened late the previous morning, had Charles wake him up this time. The Ralts came in, unable to wake up the prince, so he had to drop water on him to get him up. Charles teleported away the second Cyle pulled his eyes open and jumped out of his bed, screaming in surprise. Groaning, realizing he had to get up now, the male Umbreon got a towel and wiped his face off. He didn't want to get up, but if he didn't attend training every day this week, he wouldn't get to have a chance to become a Gemini.

Able to slow down and eat breakfast, Cyle stopped by the dining hall and ate an Oran berry tart. He saw his sister and the other Umbreon enter together around seven thirty and shared what he ate. He guessed that since he was distracted with his lose yesterday that he ate an entire tart that he usually shared with Cece. That time, the boy actually missed sharing something with his sister. Ever since she evolved, she's been kind of distant.

After breakfast, all the pokemon were gathered into the training room to be taught by Luca, the fighting master. He was going to teach everyone about battling. Apparently, there were strategies that one needed to know in order to have the upper hand in battle. Abbie didn't know any other way than just attacking left and right. But, there were some things in Luca's introduction speech that she could use in her own fights.

The Lucario paced back and forth slowly, talking to the pack of pokemon. "They key to winning a battle-," he started, focusing his sights on Cecilia for a few seconds before moving on, looking at many more faces of pokemon. "-is to take your opponents weakness and make him suffer for it. You need to find the greatest strength of your opponent, and use it against him. You need to unbalance your opponent in any way you can. If you use all of these technics, the battle is surely yours."

"Thank you, Luca." Zen said gratefully. Luca bowed his head and returned to his spot with the others. Zen turned back to the pokemon in training. "Now, I want you all to find a partner and start battling. Use whatever moves you have. The Gemini and I will be coming around to help you all."

Cecilia and Abbie paired together while Cyle went up against the Arcanine Abbie had fought against two days ago. They all fought with each and every Gemini coming by and helping them, including Zen. He eyed Abbie and moved on, so she assumed he didn't care, but the other Gemini didn't give her any advice, especially when Cece froze the field and Abbie used it to make her moves faster. They both put up a great fight, but it ended when the Umbreon's Shadow Ball ended up blasting all the frozen water everywhere, scratching a couple of pokemon.

Training that day ended with everyone eating lunch and Zen gave the pokemon the responsibility of joining the Gemini outside on their own for more training. Of course, wanting to explore more parts of the castle, nobody went outside. Abbie would've, but she was told not to train for a couple of hours to avoid further injury. The dark type didn't want to hurt herself anymore, so she ended up going to her room.

Cyle was doing well against the Arcanine battling his own way, but every single one of the Gemini was helping him with his paw positioning and running. He didn't want their help but sucked it up when he ran faster because of their tips. Zen, his uncle, slipped by him, pretending to move his paws into the right position, but whispered something in the Umbreon's ear and moved along. Cyle forced back a smile and continued battling.

Well, up until something slashed into his side and blew him against the wall within seconds. He fell to the floor immediately, more shards of ice digging into his side. Bryon immediately breathed out a small shower of flames, melting the ice into water. The cold liquid soothed the stinging from the gashes indented in the pokemon's side. Cyle was immediately taken to have his injuries attended to along with other pokemon who were blasted with ice.

Abbie, Cecilia, Cyle, and Bryon were the ones with the more serious injuries, but they weren't too bad. Cece ended up with bandages on her ears, back, and tail when she defended her face and stomach by curling into a ball. Cyle and Bryon only had one of their sides treated because they happened to be right next to the two battling. Abbie's legs and paws were wrapped in bandages, and one, small square bandage was placed on the bridge of her snout.

The four ended up just going in their own rooms to rest, but none of them actually fell asleep. Abbie and Cyle couldn't even hope to because of the darkness in their orbs forcing them to stay up. The female Umbreon sneaked out of her room and went over to Cece's, creaking the Vaporeon's door open to see if she was awake.

The water type stood in front of a mirror, admiring her own reflection. Abbie blended with the shadows and snuck in without Cece knowing. Looking closer into the mirror, the water type wasn't looking at herself but a necklace. It was pure gold and lightweight, decorated with a silver locket outlined in more gold. Cecilia often smiled at herself and stared into her own eyes.

Cece closed her eyes. _"It won't be long now." _She thought to herself, lying on her paws. _"I can't believe it's already been a year." _

Abbie snuck out from the shadows. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the gold chain in the mirror.

Cece jumped to her paws in surprise, calming down once she saw it was only Abbie. "You scared me. I forgot that you can blend with the shadows."

Abbie didn't care, she wanted the answer. "What's that necklace?" she questioned again. Cecilia looked down her neck.

"Oh, that's my charm. I keep it as a memory."

"A memory of what?"

Cece didn't answer the Umbreon's last question. She couldn't bring herself to tell Abbie the truth. She had to come up with a believable answer, one that the pokemon in front of her would buy. The Vaporeon didn't want her friend to know, it would cause suspicion.

"Oh, I got it from my mom."

"You mean Queen Clariana?"

"Yeah, same pokemon."

Abbie smiled and started walking out the door, hearing Cece sigh heavily. "Why don't you ever wear it? Are you afraid it's going to break?"

Straightening up because Abbie was still in the room, Cece answered quickly, "No, it actually can't break, not even the chain."

Abbie giggled in the back of her throat. "Okay, I'll see you later."

"See you."

Once the Umbreon left, Cece was relieved. She liked her friend, but the necklace could've been used against her. The water type sighed and let the necklace fall over her ears and onto the carpet. She examined the small wing indented in the silver locket. It reminded her of home.

* * *

Nightfall came quickly, and all pokemon went to their own rooms to sleep until tomorrow morning. Not a sound was heard except the snoring and mumbling of certain pokemon. Everything was silent for a long time. However, silence wasn't heard for three pokemon. The Umbreon heard every single sound from a creaky window or water dripping into a fountain of water. Two of them weren't bother by it, but one was.

Abbie twisted and turned, finally finding herself staring up at the ceiling above her. Her body wouldn't let her sleep at all. Something inside of her was screaming for her to get up, but she didn't want to. Her legs were sore from being blasted by ice, and the deep gash on the bridge of her snout made things worse. It stung worse than the other hundred cuts along her legs and paws. The Umbreon used her paws to cover and bend her ears so she would stop hearing the sounds, but she couldn't.

Zen walked briskly down the hall, finding Cyle's bedroom door slightly open and the blue eyed Umbreon waiting inside. He found it a little odd that his nephew had blue eyes instead of the normal red, but no pokemon was perfect. If Zen knew about imperfect pokemon, he would use that word to describe Cyle. His moves were sloppy and his own father couldn't see that because of worry.

Worry that the kingdom would fall. Worry that the one who could save them, might end up destroying them. Everything seemed dark and gray, but no one else knew that. They thought agreements with the other kingdoms were being made as they slept peacefully. They didn't even know about the secret weapon.

Cyle had been awake all night, waiting for his uncle to come and get him for some late night Umbreon training. He was glad that no one else was coming but him. Still, the young pokemon mind didn't know what powers a dark type contained, and he was insisting that it was horrible. Maybe if he trained with another Umbreon he would be able to understand.

"Are you ready?" Zen asked, creeping through the slightly open door. It creaked, but he was sure no one heard it.

Cyle straightened up. "I was born ready." He stated, getting a chuckle from Zen.

"Alright." He led Cyle out the door and closed it with a quiet thud. "We'll be training in the garden maze."

Abbie heard a sharp creaky noise come from outside her room. She couldn't help her curiosity and jumped to figure out what made that noise. Once the black furred head peaked through the door, her whole body dimmed into no light. Further along the hall, several rings were glowing far too brightly. The female immediately knew what, or who, it was.

Listening closely, she heard the word 'training' and 'garden' followed by faint footsteps heading in the opposite direction. The Umbreon waited about ten minutes before following herself. She couldn't take the risk of letting Cyle find out she was following him, and she knew where they were going so it didn't really matter. She silently closed her door and darted down the path Cecilia showed her that morning.

Abbie arrived at the garden in less than five minutes, wondering what part the male Umbreon was training in. She stopped to think about it though. He wasn't training himself, there had to be another pokemon. She knew that Cyle was very bad at training, and she remembered seeing Zen helping his nephew a lot. The one who hated Abbie was with him, in fact, it was probably his idea. It wasn't fair to the others that Cyle was getting special training, so she had to make it fair.

A bright, red light started shined in the distance, ready for another pokemon to find it. Normally, Abbie wouldn't have been able to see it as an Eevee, but she was an Umbreon now, and she could control her powers as a dark type freely without any help, unlike Cyle. She could see his bright rings glowing through the high bush maze down the hillside.

Zen lead Cyle down the steep hill where flowers were planted for better watering purposes. When they reached the bottom, the flowers formed a picture of an Eevee, and Cyle awed at the skills of the planters who made it. The older Umbreon pulled him toward the garden maze made with walls of Bitterroot bushes. If Cyle even tried to push his way through the bush, the small vines and roots of the trees would wrap around his body. The maze was built that way so that pokemon who tried to find the flag hidden inside wouldn't cheat.

Cyle turned to his uncle. "So what is the training for?" he asked.

"You got an Umbreon for your test, right?" Zen didn't need to ask since Cyle was standing as an Umbreon in front of him. The young boy nodded nonetheless. "So how do you like it?"

"I actually don't really like my evolution." He answered, shuffling his paws on the ground. "I can't really do anything as a dark type."

Zen chuckled. "A dark type is probably the best pokemon type. Why don't you like it?"

"Well," Cyle dragged the word on, tapping the yellow band on his forehead, "for one I don't know how to turn off these things."

Again, the older dark type laughed. "That one on your head is connected to your mind. Just imagine them getting darker."

Cyle did what his uncle said, closing his eyes and imagining the space around him growing dimmer. Zen unstrained his eyes as the light around him disappeared completely. He had been waiting for a few days to see when Cyle would dim his rings, but he just found out Cyle didn't know how. Once the young Umbreon opened his eyes, he was surprised at how dark it was.

"Wow, I didn't know it was that easy." He laughed, scratching the back of his neck. "What else can I do?"

Zen rolled his eyes at the young cub's curiosity. "Well, your first training exercise will be to find the glowing flag in that maze." He pointed his paw toward the dark hallway that led to a passage of mystery.

Cyle was shocked. "Wait! You want me to go in that maze?! That dark maze! I can use my light source right?"

Zen shook his head. "Nope. Being a dark type lets you see in the dark so don't use the light. Just rely on your eyes."

"I'm not so sure I want to do this." Cyle sighed.

"You want to be the fifth Gemini don't you?"

"Yeah, but if I get lost will you help me find my way out?"

"Of course. Just go in there."

Cyle gulped and hesitantly walked into the dark maze, the bands on his body completely hidden in his black fur. He couldn't see a thing and something in his head made him pretty sure that there were wild pokemon hiding in the maze. As he ventured further in, he could feel the cold night wind brush past him with great ease.

The Umbreon realized that he was farther in than expected, and the turns he took along the way weren't noticed by him at all. Gulping, he continued on his way. The sounds of a Hoothoot chirped in his eyes and made him jump in fear several times, but he kept going. His eyes picked up something in the distance: a red light. It came closer and closer, getting bigger. He could see it through the Bitter bush twigs holding its leaves.

A scream escaped his mouth as the red light whizzed past him. Something rushed past his side and knocked him over, but Cyle only scooted closer to the maze wall. He screamed again when the wet vines started quickly wrapping around his paws. The Umbreon's claws unsheathed and he scratched the vines apart and went to the safety of the middle of the passageway. His heartbeats were quick and unsteady.

"Cyle!" Zen's voice sounded. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He shouted back. "I'm fine. It was just a wild pokemon."

"Do you want to come back?"

"No. I'm going to keep going for the flag."

_"Who are you calling wild?" _Abbie asked in her head, continuing to run for the entrance with the glowing red flag in her mouth.

She took a couple of turns, hearing Cyle's paws shuffle on the ground just behind the wall to her right. He ended up finding one of those loops that sends you back where you came from. Abbie sighed and trudged forward, seeing the dimly lit lights on Zen's forehead and shoulders. She had an idea on something fun and decided to try.

Zen saw his nephew walk back out the way he came, holding the flag between his teeth. "Cyle. That was quick. How did you find it so fast?"

"Oh you know." Abbie said, trying to sound as much like Cyle as possible, which must've worked. "It was easy when I could see in the dark."

"Uncle, who are you talking to?"

Abbie turned her head to see the other Umbreon standing behind her, blowing her prank on Zen. She snickered and dropped the flag, backing up so the two family members could see each other. They looked at each other, then at Abbie, fazed by her sudden appearance. Weren't they alone?

"What in Arceus' name are you doing here?" Cyle blurted.

Zen, however, growled lowly. "You can't be here! Go back to the castle!"

Abbie stomped her front paws into the ground and sat down rudely. "Who says I have to?"

Zen stalked closer to her, staring coldly into her red eyes with his own. "I do! This is training for Cyle, not you!"

The female snorted loudly, chuckling. "Why are you training Cyle separately from everyone else? That doesn't seem too fair. King Breo certainly wouldn't let him enter if he found out, even if Cyle is his son."

Zen had walked so close to Abbie that she was inches from his face, feeling the heat of his breath. His eyes were glaring hardly at her, trying to intimidate her. She wasn't scared, though, she was smirking at him. The female was right, and Zen knew it, so he back away, still standing up.

"I thought so." Abbie challenged. She stood up and shook the dirt off her body, stretching. "Now, I want something."

"What do you want?" Cyle asked for his uncle.

"I want a battle. With you." She pointed her paw toward the grown Umbreon, not feared by his experience in battling. "If you win, I'll leave and let you train whenever you want. And I won't tell King Breo."

"What do you want if you win?!" Zen snapped, a growl forming in the back of his throat. He had to agree or else it would've cost everything for Cyle.

"I want to stay here and train with you guys."

"Fine." Cyle agreed. "But you're just wasting your time. My uncle is the best when it comes to battles."

Zen nodded in agreement. "You won't beat me, little cub."

"Save it for the battle!" Abbie snapped, her anger rising because he was judging her. She told Cyle to get out of the way. "You can have the first move."

The energy in Zen's life source formed a sphere in front of him and was shot at the opponent. Abbie jumped back about one foot, letting smoke fill the air. She got close to the ground, feeling paws beat against it. Her tail was coated in iron and she swung into the air, hitting something else. The air cleared and Zen launched a close range Shadow Ball, nailing Abbie head on. She flew back and hit the ground, seeing the other dark type move quickly. She was knocked back farther by Iron Tail, again landing on her side.

Zen was determined to hit her with Iron Tail until she gave up. "You can't beat me! I've been well trained!"

He jumped into the air as Abbie stood, twisting around to again hit the female. The iron coated tail hit something solid as Abbie pushed herself to the left and forward at Zen. She scratched his face and kicked his back legs down, able to jump back in time to form a dark orb and launch it. Zen reacted quickly, pulling his legs back up and jumping into the air. Shadow Ball threw up more dirt as Abbie burrowed into the ground.

"I'm not as helpless as you think!" Abbie snapped back.

The second the male's black paws hit the ground, a hole under him threw the pokemon into the air. He quickly readied himself and twisted, his tail hitting another one with the exact same move. They stayed suspended in the air until Zen pulled the same trick: he launched Shadow Ball at close aim. The female dark type was again thrown back, landing on her paws and clearing her eyes. The male dark type took his chance and ran forward. His jaws sealed onto flesh, sinking further until he heard a gasp of pain.

Abbie was still once the teeth sunk into her shoulder, staring intensely at the other Umbreon, breathing heavily. She didn't move, but she desperately wished he would let go. She wasn't going to give up no matter what. Abbie hated when others thought she was weak and helpless.

"Looks like you are." Zen smirked. "I think I've one this battle."

The female swept at the four legs, completely escaping Bite's grip with ease. She quickly moved, jumping on top of Zen and pinning him down easily. He tried to wiggle out but it didn't work; her pin was perfect with no chance of escape except Shadow Ball. He tried to form the orb, but Abbie pushed one paw on his chest and stopped the energy from flowing.

"I'm just as experienced in fighting as you!" She screamed in his face. She calmed herself down and got off Zen, walking back toward the castle without another word.

Zen knew she had won, but Abbie didn't feel like she did. After evolving, she had so many abilities just handed to her, but she didn't apply them in battle at all. Seeing in the dark, the glowing bands on her body, she didn't use any of those to help her win.


	8. Chapter 8

**I think they're gone today, so that means a short author's comment (even though there usually is).**

**So I guess I can begin the chapter now.**

**Zen: Okay who took it?**

**Wait! Zen? What are you going here?**

**Zen: Someone took the gem and I don't know who has it. I think that Umbreon mutt Abbie took it!**

**Well, first of all, you just insulted your own species, and second, I think I saw Cyle run off with it earlier.**

**Zen: Ugh, I hate it when he does that.**

**Wait, has he taken things before?**

**Zen: Yes. When he was an Eevee, every single one of my missing objects ended up in his room or in his paws.**

**Too bad! Start the chapter!**

**Chapter 8**

**Teamwork**

Abbie looked at her reflection in the mirror, entranced by her own beauty. She had never seen herself before, except for that one time as an Eevee. As the normal type, though, she wasn't pretty in the slightest bit, her fur a mess. The rib and hip bones stuck out like needles and the lack of eating showed through her skin and fur. She couldn't take herself.

But now, her body was perfectly shaped and fit. Her healthy, red eyes gleamed with pure beauty and her fur was slick and shiny. The glowing bands shone brightly and dimmed without Abbie having to think about it. The only thing about herself that bothered her was the bandage still on her snout. She was to go into the infirmary every day to get the cuts checked out and bandages switched. They gave her a white one which stood out against her fur, but Cece gave her a white flower pin to put on her ear. The pin had a red jewel which brought out her eyes. She was purely beautiful without even trying.

Cyle had been sleepy every morning since his uncle started training him at night, but he didn't care because everything was coming easier to him. He quickly followed some other pokemon into the training hall and checked the board. Today, it was the start of a two day hiking adventure into the mountains. Near noon they would arrive at the camping ground and play a special game that was designed to test them in stealth and speed.

The board had several pieces of paper on them, grouping the pokemon together for the hike. Each group had their own Gemini leader.

_ Luca's Group: Cecilia, Luke, Trevor, Angela, Joshua, Keli, Mark, Priscilla _

Cyle was glad his sister wasn't paired with that other Umbreon. He couldn't take it when they bonded over something like noticing when his paws were wrongly positioned when launching Shadow Ball. He couldn't see how girls got along so well, yet still managed to do everything else in their lives. It was like they bonded when not with each other. He was confused.

The male dark type continued on reading the names:

_ Swipe's Group: Byron, Freddy, Olivia, Aylin, Scott, Hope, Clyde, Derik, Theresa _

_ Zodia's Group: Flin, Shelby, Benjamin, Abbie, Teler, Arron, Cyle, Jack_

Cyle groaned in anger, covering his eyes with his huge paws. Why did that stupid pokemon have to be in his group? She was so annoying and thought she knew anything and everything. He couldn't handle being near her! Now he had to go on this long hike with her? Cyle was going to die. He was literally going to die.

* * *

"Okay guys," Zodia tweeted gleefully. "Which way are we going to go?"

A bunch of pokemon started shouting out random ways that were hard but some said the easier routes. One pokemon tried to show the way they could take, but it wasn't even a real route. The other groups were still being gathered together, and one group had left just a few minutes ago. Zodia's group would be next to leave, but they had to decide on a path to take. No one seemed to agree on a single one, but they didn't even know which paths there were to take.

"We could take the easy path." One pokemon states. "But it would take at least three hours not including breaks."

Abbie wanted to state her mind but pretty much everyone else was yelling out other options. The other Umbreon was actually being quiet and just sitting there alone. She kind of felt bad for him, but she left him alone. Everyone started quieting down so that Zodia could speak. Abbie, of course, jumped in and said her idea.

"Guys, the other group that left before use went on the medium path." Abbie yelled, quieting the others down. "If we take the harder one then we can beat them there and have extra time to rest."

No one said anything for a while, not really sure if the hard path was safe to take. It was really steep and rocky, but that made it perfect for an easier climb. And all that downhill after climbing very high would let them relax while still hiking. It was the perfect plan even for pokemon who didn't have great stamina. There were small ledges they could take breaks on.

"I don't think we should."

Everyone looked over their shoulders, seeing Cyle standing perfectly upright with his chin a little higher than it should've been. He walked around the small pack of pokemon and sat down next to Zodia and Abbie. The female Umbreon was happy that he was stating his mind, but not happy that he was against her idea. She gave him an annoyed glance before looking at the fire type leader.

"Why?" Abbie demanded.

"Well some pokemon might not be able to handle going that far up without breaks." Cyle smirked, knowing he was annoying the girl.

"But there are ledges to take breaks on." Abbie argued. "And if we get there first there's a prize waiting for us."

Both Umbreon looked toward Zodia, expecting her to choose a side. She wasn't planning on it though; picking someone over someone else wasn't really her thing. Zodia actually wanted to ask the other pokemon what they thought. It was, after all, their training so they should choose how they train.

"How about we let everyone else decide?" Zodia purposed, looking toward the pokemon waiting for a decision to be made. "Raise your paw if you want to go Cyle's way."

Cyle confidently stood up, looking around to see who raised their paw. Nothing was seen and the only movement was other pokemon turning their heads to check if anyone else raised their paw. When Zodia asked the same question about Abbie's way, everyone threw their paw hopefully in the air, again checking for others. The female dark type smirked and flicked her tail in his face while walking back to the pokemon. Cyle sighed and joined in, not really caring which path they took. He just wanted to annoy Abbie.

Zodia led everyone up the steep side of the hill, hopping from rock to rock without touching a piece of ground. Everyone else trudged along heavily, already panting at climbing up such a steep mountain. The rising sun couldn't even be seen over the highest peak about a mile up. Immediately, the pokemon regretted choosing this way up, but they didn't complain and kept going. The Ninetails had gotten a tough group.

After about five minutes, Abbie started breathing heavily with Cyle behind her. She could hear his hard breaths and quiet coughing. Actually, her throat was feeling very sticky and dry, so she coughed too. Still, the pair of Umbreon continued up, occasionally slipping on a few loose rocks.

A half hour later, the pokemon weren't even halfway to the top, but, still, no one complained. They stopped for a quick break by a small, pokemon-made water hole. Everyone was relieved to have a drink of water and dunk their heads under the cool liquid, letting it flow down their faces. It didn't last long though, because everyone kept reminding themselves of the prize waiting for them if they beat the rest there.

The crisp autumn air blew against them, cooling the sweat-heated faces that desperately needed it. Small flowers sprung up off the paw-woven path, absorbing small rays of sunlight that poured down on the leaves. It was beautiful, and every single pokemon experienced that for the first time ever. Abbie enjoyed it the most, because she saw it every day and never took the time to appreciate it.

As they climbed, the mountain got a lot steeper and the loose dirt and gravel wasn't helping. Zodia often had to help some of the pokemon get back on their feet after falling down. At one point, every single pokemon wanted to take a detour because it was too hard to even walk. Every single paw that stepped down slipped fully under the gravel. Zodia finally gave into all the pleas and found another path they could take to the top that wouldn't delay them too much. Everyone walked along the steep, thin cliff until they were finally able to start heading up again. As a black paw came down, the dirt slipped under the weight, collapsing completely. Abbie slipped off the cliff and started falling down.

Arron was way behind everyone else. While the rest of the group was already pretty far up, he was just starting to head up once again. His yellow-furred paws ached, but he kept climbing, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his wrist. Being an electric type, he should be at the front, but Arron wasn't feeling so good this morning and was just getting over it now. He would catch up on the downhill run. The Jolteon looked at the ground and continued hiking.

As a shadow rolled past his feet, his instincts kicked in. Suddenly, his claws were seeped into the ground as he hung over the cliff, just barely holding onto the edge with his back paws. Arron's front paws were dug into the side of the mountain before he even realized flesh was inside his mouth. He could taste the blood because of his biting and loosened his jaw just a little bit so he would hurt whatever pokemon he had caught. The electric type peered down carefully, barely seeing the brightly glowing band of light.

Abbie whimpered the second she felt something puncture the excess skin and the rings glowed brightly in alarm. She wiggled her feet trying to find something to grab with her paws, but nothing was there. The dark type hung over a large drop by the scruff of her neck. She looked up, seeing a male Jolteon doing his best to prevent her from falling to her death. The grip loosened and she felt herself drop just an inch, making her scream.

"Are you okay?" Arron yelled through his teeth. "Am I biting too hard?"

"No," Abbie gasped. "I think I'm okay."

"That's good." The Jolteon sighed, pulling her body closer toward the ground. The Umbreon got her claws ready. "I thought I might've hurt you."

"No. You saved me actually." The dark type grasped the ground and yanked herself back onto the cliff edge, breathing heavily. She found that her hero was panting as well. "Thanks. I'm Abbie."

"Arron," he introduced through his heavy breaths. "My name is Arron."

They looked at each other and smiled. Abbie quickly noticed his beautiful eyes and shining fur. Arron saw her friendliness. Blushing, they looked at the ground.

They both looked back up, seeing that no one noticed that Abbie almost died. She rolled her eyes and nudged Arron forward, trying to get him to catch up with the rest of the group. Zodia did see them, though. She admired their teamwork and instinctive reaction. That's all she wanted out of the fifth Gemini. It didn't even matter if the pokemon didn't have the power of the gem, teamwork and instincts were the only thing that mattered.

* * *

"Listen closely!" Zen shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. Some pokemon exchanged comments with their friends before showing that they were listening. "We will be playing a game called capture the flag."

Gasps and shrieks of joy rang through the sky. Pokemon immediately started picking teams, choosing their friends or others who were strong and fast. Zen tried to get their attention back, but everyone else was too excited to care what the Umbreon had to say.

Not Abbie, though. She sat at the front of the pack, her ears perked up and listening closely. She smiled happily at Zen when he looked her way, her tail beating against the ground. She usually tried to stop herself from doing that, especially with other pokemon around, but she was very excited for the game and couldn't wait to start. Despite it being the middle of the day, she would blend in with the shadows easily. No one would catch her. Zen rolled his eyes and walked to Swipe; Abbie stopped her wagging tail. She felt innocent for once.

Swipe was instructed carefully on what to do. He stepped forward, examining the width of the pokemon crowd. He flapped his wings once, immediately jumping high into the sky. The white gem on his head glowed brightly. The wind switched direction, swirling around the flying type slowly at first. It sped up, quickly flashing white against the blue sky and took the shape of a bird. With a flap of Swipe's wings, the shape thundered toward the pokemon, disappearing into wind and knocking the crowd onto their stomachs and backs. Everyone looked in amazement as Swipe landed gracefully.

"Well done Swipe. Now, if everyone will pay attention." Zen praised out loud. He turned toward the once shouting pokemon, getting complete silence. "Master Swipe just demonstrated a slight amount of power of what the gems have to offer. You will have to pay attention to training if you want to learn to use it."

Everyone was silent, pleasing Zen.

The Umbreon walked closer. "There will only be two teams and I will be choosing them. Boundaries have already been set up, and each of you will have a band around your neck colored by your team and a flag. If you step into enemy lines, and are hit by a move, the sensors in the bands will automatically paralyze you until another teammate comes and resets it."

Zen paired the teams: Zodia's group and his own, Luca's group and Kila's group, and he split Swipe's pure flying type group evenly between them. Cyle and Abbie were on the same team of course with their team color blue, and Cecilia was on the opposite team with her team color red. The blue team got the east half of the field, red got the west. Once both flags were hidden, the game started.

Red players were the first to cross, two of them getting close to the flag but Abbie quickly sent them running back. She didn't use a move on them because she enjoyed seeing them flee. The female Umbreon stayed behind her boundary line, watching. A flying type crossed over, only to be hit by an electric type move and sent in a downward spiral.

Abbie reacted quickly, darting into enemy lines with Cyle telling her to come back. A Razor Leaf was sent her way which she evaded with a move she saw Zen use. The falling bird was near the treetops. She jumped from branch to branch, until pouncing onto the falling bird. The sensors in the bands reacted, and the Tranquill was free to move. He quickly pulled back into their territory with Abbie on his back.

Luca saw what Abbie did. He was about to grab the Tranquill himself to prevent it from getting hurt, but the black shadow reacted first. He admired what she did, risking herself in the game to save a teammate. A small piece of his heart believed she was going to be the one.

The Jolteon felt embarrassed. He accidentally launched that bolt which hit one of his own team members. Arron didn't want to admit it, so he would stay quiet about it. Another Thundershock bounced off his fur and zapped an incoming Flame Burst. He saw the line that symbolized his territory and ran for cover, just barely making it across.

Abbie trotted over to the yellow pile of fur on the ground. "Arron, are you alright? Did you see that Thundershock hit Tranquill?" She smirked and winked at him, telling him that she saw his attack and pranced away like nothing happened.

The electric type followed the dark type to the tip of boundaries, watching her look into the forest. He looked too, not seeing what she was looking at. Members of the red team stared at her trying to predict when and where she would run, but she wasn't focused on them at all. Her eyes darted back and forth, glancing from tree to tree as if she were looking for something. Cyle and Arron couldn't help but wonder.

Abbie taped each guy on the shoulder and walked back a few steps so the enemy wouldn't hear. "Their flag is on a rock in the middle of a pond where a waterfall flows into. Cece and a couple other of pokemon are guarding it. There's a path that isn't guarded too heavily toward the north that we can take. The only problem is getting past the guards."

"Whoa!" Cyle's ears perked up in amazement. "How did you do that? Is there some kind of special Umbreon trick?"

The female snickered. "No, I just picked it up on my own."

Arron butted in with an idea. "If we go along that path, you two can blend with the shadows. If someone spots me I'll let them get me and when they go one of you can tag me. I can keep everyone out of the water with my Thundershock."

"Okay what happens after we get the flag and everyone is waiting for u to move?" Cyle found a flaw. "We could try getting some other pokemon to help."

"No." Abbie stepped in boldly. "We can burn that bridge when we get there. The more pokemon that try to help, the less cover we'll have. Red will surely win if we lose our players."

"Then are we ready?" Arron asked, assuming the answer would be yes. Of course, it was. "Let's try not to attract any attention."

Arron led the way with Abbie second and Cyle last, but the charmed Jolteon let the only female go first. Cyle nudged him with his elbow as he walked by Arron, making fun of the way he treated Abbie. The electric type treated Abbie like she was a lady, but Cyle treated her like he was his worst enemy.

Arron felt his cheeks burn with happiness when Abbie walked by. His sharp nose caught the scent of Oran flowers, which were in bloom at the castle. She must've picked one. He didn't know why he treated her so differently than other girls at this place, he just did. Arron snapped himself into reality and trotted forward, last in line.

Abbie's bands were completely off. As she slipped under a tree, her body became invisible to the eye. She was tricky as an Umbreon, which bended to her capability. Cyle, however, couldn't dim his lights enough so Abbie had to walk beside him on the edge of the path closer to the forest so she covered the light. Arron found his claws bore out. Quickly, he pulled them back in and continued forward.

Whatever light was inside the male Umbreon was scared out of him as a Vivillion faced them. She quickly noticed the yellow stripe dart past her and used String Shot to hit Arron. The sticky web wrapped around him once, tagging the blue band around his neck. A small wave was sent through the electric type's body, paralyzing his muscles. The colorful pokemon looked back toward the shadows, face to face with Cyle. Abbie put her paw over the male's mouth; they were completely blended with the shadows, the Vivillion couldn't see them. She quickly flew along, not caring to guard the downed pokemon.

Once out of sight, Abbie lit up her rings and ran to Arron. "Hey! Are you okay?" She touched the blue sensors and Arron was immediately able to move. "That was good thinking, trying to run past her."

Cyle interrupted them, spitting black fur out of his mouth. "Your fur tastes gross. Why did you put your paw in my mouth?"

Abbie rolled her eyes. "You would've screamed and given away our position."

"It's a good thing you did what you did." Arron let his claws unsheathe and scraped the surface of the sticky webbing. It fell off of him, lying limp on the ground. "I'm fine by the way. You know, the guy who saved your life is totally unable to feel pain."

The female dark type giggled. "Hey I asked if you were okay, but you didn't answer me quick enough."

Abbie flicked her tail in the air as she turned around and continued forward. Cyle and Arron exchanged a glance before following her, unsure of her mood. Cyle saw that thing she did with her tail often. She would flick it when she was feeling a certain way, it was her tell. Arron had never seen it before, but it seemed as if she did it often. They didn't know, but when Abbie was still an Eevee and learning her way around the forest, every time she turned around she would flick her tail against a tree. That way it left her scent on it so she never got lost.

The ground started getting a little wetter. They were getting closer to the waterfall and closer to victory. The sound of water pounding on water had been ringing in Abbie's ears for a while now but she wasn't surprised when Arron and Cyle didn't hear it until now. She knew about her stronger senses, which let her feel the pokemon watching them around her. They were waiting for the group of Eevee evolutions to get to the water before they would attack. Abbie knew it, but said nothing. She would be ready.

There it was. On a small piece of land in the tiny pond there was the red flag stuck in the ground. The two males didn't know that Cece was waiting in the water, completely camouflaged. Her cell structure is similar to water molecules, which lets her become invisible to the eye inside of water. Abbie felt her there, she felt Cece breathing the oxygen from the water.

"Hey guys!" Cyle yelled. "Look the flag is right there!"

Cyle started running, but Abbie wasn't counting on that. "Cyle wait! Don't go over there."

The female Umbreon joined in the running, preparing Shadow Ball to launch at Cece, but the Vaporeon was moving swiftly through the water and Abbie couldn't see her. The water type grabbed the ice cold energy from the orb in her chest and let it escape her mouth. Cyle was hit in the leg and paralyzed, rolling close to the island but not getting onto it. The non-paralyzed dark type shot her ghost type move where Ice Beam was fired, distracting Cece long enough to pull Arron on the island and tag Cyle.

The others hiding in the forest immediately took action, firing all their long range attacks at the three intruders. Every single one of them missed because of that Umbreon. She was firing back to back Shadow Balls to block them from hitting herself and the other two. The red members came out of the shadows, still shooting at Abbie, Arron, and Cyle who were safely on the island.

"Quick Arron!" Abbie yelled immediately as she released another ghostly orb. She saw a small ball of ice forming in the water. "Use your Thundershock on the water!"

Arron, not caring that he was being ordered around, charged up the electricity from his orb into his fur. The static charged until he released a medium sized bold onto the clear liquid. The electricity traveled through the water and was sent back into the air, blocking many of the oncoming attacks. Cece screamed in pain, dragging herself out of the liquid once the electricity went away. She fell over, unconscious with static running over her body.

The three stood, guarding each other. Arron has static running around his body, Abbie has a fully charged Shadow Ball in front of her mouth, and Cyle is gripping the red flag between his teeth. All he has to do is get it into his boundaries and the game will be won. The only problem was the pokemon watching them like hawks.

"So what do we do now?" Arron asked, glancing over to the Umbreons. "We're kind of trapped on this tiny island."

"I don't know." Cyle replied, looking toward the only other dark type on his team. "Abbie, what do we do?"

Abbie said nothing for a little bit. Her eyes darted back and forth, so Arron and Cyle assumed that she was thinking of something. "I've got nothing guys." She responded, sitting down.

Arron and Cyle were shocked; Abbie always had a plan. They didn't know what to do without her, and soon the pokemon trying to get the flag back joined in her sitting. They let their charged moves disappear just like Abbie let hers evaporate into thin air. The pokemon watched her carelessly, and the other two caught on.

The surrounding pokemon were letting their guard down and while Cecilia was still knocked out, it was time to make their move. Arron eyed Abbie, trying to tell her to do something that could let them win the game. She didn't budge, but remained in her sitting position doing nothing. Cyle realized how tight his teeth were sealed onto the red flag. He had seen the object so many times before but never actually got to hold it. He was nervous and wanted to run as fast as he could.

Abbie could feel it. All the dark type energy in her life source was slowly draining, flowing through her veins and into her paws. The energy was building up to a dangerous level and the dark energy started flowing into the ground, shaking it ever so slightly. She couldn't start her move with the surrounding eyes watching her. Plus the Umbreon needed to be careful not to hit her friends around her like Arron and Cece. She didn't care if it hit Cyle; he wouldn't feel much.

Several pulses of blackness traveled through the ground hitting nearby pokemon and throwing up water, shaking the ground and falling trees. The sounded echoed through the air like a bomb, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look. The nearby pokemon became fazed and dizzy except for Arron and Cyle.

The female slammed her body into the other two. "Go! Run now!"

They didn't hesitate, bolting like a Sawsbuck away from a Pyroar. Arron was ahead with Cyle right behind him. Since the male Umbreon had the flag, Abbie was right behind him, nipping at his heels to make sure he kept up. Many of the pokemon hit by the attack shook off the effects and came running for the flag. Moves were being shot toward them, but Abbie and Arron took care of the attacks.

To the right a Vivillion spit a String Shot toward Abbie. The Umbreon reacted, draining energy from her orb and quickly forming a sphere in front of her. Shadow Ball completely broke the sticky web, sending it back where it came. The three team members kept running until their paws were sore and their lungs ached from breathing. Abbie made them run further with the line about twenty yards away.

"C'mon Cyle!" The female dark type encouraged. "Keep running!"

"I can't!" He said in between breaths, gasping for air. "I need to rest!"

"You can rest once we win this game." Arron snapped. "Now move your tail!"

The Pidgeotto dived downward, slipping his wings straight into Cyle's legs, causing the four legged pokemon to fall over. He circled around and went for the flag. Abbie flickered her tail, an iron color coating it. She jumped and twisted her body, slamming Iron Tail straight onto the flying type's back. Cyle jumped over the line.

All was silent for a few seconds, but it kicked in and every blue member pokemon was cheering for him. Abbie collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily in desperation to get her heart to the normal speed. Arron sat beside her, also panting. Once Cyle was able to get away, he joined his two new friends.

"Nice job, Umbreon." Abbie complemented. "Not bad at all."


End file.
